Herschel Walker Just Broke From Trump In A Big Way

It's no secret that NFL star Herschel Walker and former president Donald Trump are mutual fans of one another. The two seemingly forged a friendship since the days Walker played for the New Jersey Generals, a team that played in a league owned by Trump (per NBC News). So, it was only natural when the ex-POTUS threw his support behind Walker's 2022 Georgia state Senate bid. "Herschel Walker is a friend, a Patriot, and an outstanding American who is going to be a GREAT United States Senator," Trump wrote, in part, on his Save America PAC site in September, per The Hill. "He embodies 'America First' and the winning spirit of Georgia... He has my Complete and Total Endorsement!"

Walker has been working with Trump since 2018, after the real estate mogul appointed him to his sports council, per Axios — an initiative devoted to promoting athletic endeavors among kids. Speaking about his reasons to run for Senate to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Walker even echoed many of the sentiments behind Trump's speeches and talking points aiming to please the Heartland. "Our country is at a crossroads," Walker stated. "In the United States Senate, I will stand up for conservative values and get our country moving in the right direction. It is time to have leaders in Washington who will fight to protect the American Dream for everybody." 

So why did the former athlete make a sudden break from Team Trump in late October? 

Could Herschel Walker just have made a huge misstep in his run for Senate? In an October 19 interview on Fox News' "Brian Kilmeade Show," Walker was asked his take on Donald Trump's assertion that Republicans shouldn't vote in any upcoming elections — in protest of the since-debunked claims of voter fraud Trump alleges interfered with the 2020 presidential election. Walker clearly did not agree with the former president's drastic proposal, opining, "That is not the right message. I think everyone's got to get out and vote ... We can't continue to look at the past."

Although Walker seemed assured Trump would understand his divergent perspective — Trump "knows Herschel Walker is going to it Herschel Walker's way ... It's not Donald Trump running for [Senate]," he told Kilmeade — other members of the GOP have their doubts. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, for one, cast his skepticism on Trump's relationship with Walker even prior to this recent interview, per CNN, worried that he'll cost Republicans the Senate seat. And ex-federal prosecutor Ron Filipkowski, who tweeted Walker's Fox News interview, wrote in a follow-up tweet that "no amount of dissent, however minor, with Donald J. Trump is tolerated in the Republican Party." He also wrote that he believes Trump has already seen the footage and isn't happy.