Source: The Washington Post / Getty
Georgia Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker is once again facing scrutiny after making another false claim—this time, stating that he was once an officer with law enforcement and the F.B.I.
According to reports, the former Heisman Trophy-winning running back claimed that he once worked for the Cobb County Police Department in Georgia during a speech he made in 2017. His campaign claimed that he occupied the position of “honorary deputy” there as well as in three other counties. When contacted, the police department said it had no record of him working there.
The former football star endorsed by former President Donald Trump also made another false claim, stating that he was an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation during a motivational speech he gave in September 2019. “I spent time at Quantico at the FBI training school. Y’all didn’t know I was an agent?”, he said 30 minutes into the talk. Walker’s campaign pointed to an Associated Press news article from 1989 where he made the same claim. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has not commented on the claim.
Walker’s falsehoods involving law enforcement belie his constant position of full support for police officers. Walker has had a past incident of threatening to shoot it out with officers responding to calls of a domestic disturbance at his home in Texas in 2001, and claimed that he was a “certified peace officer” to police in the suburb of Irving the previous year. The false claims are part of a growing list of bizarre statements tallied by the Senate candidate, who is seeking to replace current Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock in the midterm elections this November. These claims include him saying that he was valedictorian of his high school, as well as being a graduate of the University of Georgia in addition to saying he founded a charity for veterans.
