I had the pleasure of speaking with Herschel Walker, the Georgia Bulldog football legend, Heisman Trophy winner, and Republican candidate for the Senate seat that Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) currently occupies. He called me from his bus tour in which he has been speaking to enthusiastic crowds all across the Peach State. Walker was one of my childhood heroes, so it was an honor to have a conversation with him.
Chris Queen: We’re in the fourth quarter of this campaign. Why should voters who are on the fence in this election choose you?
Herschel Walker: Well, I think they should choose me because I think if they’ve got a hesitation about a non-politician like myself, they should think of the two politicians, Joe Biden and Raphael Warnock, and what they’ve done to this country in two short years. In two short years, they’ve given us this high inflation, they’ve given us these open borders, they’ve given us crime in the streets, and I’m one person who wants to stop that, and I don’t know if we can take six more years of the things that they’ve given us. So that’s the reason that I think they should choose me. Give me an opportunity to get out there and show them that this is not a new normal and that we can make things better.
CQ: What are your priorities for the Senate, and what specific things do you want to be a part of in the Senate?
HW: Well, there’s no doubt I want to get into agriculture because agriculture in Georgia is a huge, huge industry here. But at the same time, we have to get energy independence back, and what I mean by that is, we’ve got to quit going to our enemies for our oil and gas. Right now, I think that’s a national security problem, and we can also try to bring jobs back by getting the economy stirred back up. Plus, we can get our national security under control, and there’s no doubt we’ve got to get this border under control as well because of fentanyl coming into this country… along with crime.
It’s so hard to say what you want to do first because there’s so much that I think the left has done to this country that’s totally destroying this country. And they don’t seem to know that there’s a problem. They continue to go forward with different things, and they don’t seem to want to address anything. But they’ve continued to tear down the fabric of this country.
CQ: What are the issues that Georgia faces that are most important to you?
HW: I think the issue that Georgia is facing is the economy. I think everybody, when they’re going to the gas pump and the grocery store, is being hit by the prices, and yet their income is not going up as fast as the inflation is going up. So they’re having to use some of their savings to pay for a lot of the bills that they’re having to pay.
They’re worried about the crime on the street as well. So there’s a lot of things, and that’s what I think is so sad right now. When you get around Georgia, people are talking about inflation and talking about crime; they’re talking about what’s happening in the schools and stuff. And that’s because the leaders we got in Washington have forgotten about what they’re supposed to be doing. When they got to Washington, they were called to represent the people, but they tend to go to Washington and represent themselves.
CQ: There’s been a lot of mud slung at you during this campaign. How have you coped with it?
HW: I cope very well with it because I know right now that they will say or do anything for power. I think people see that they want to retain this seat, but out there, they’re messing with the wrong Georgians. And hear this: Herschel Walker is not going to just give up because this seat is way too important.
I’ve been very transparent about everything I’ve ever done. And I’ve moved forward, but right now, they want to continue to do the things they want to do. But I want people to know that I’m here to fight for the Georgia people. And I think they’ve seen that Sen. Warnock was here to fight for Joe Biden when he voted with him 96% of the time, which is the reason we have an open border, which is the reason that morale in our police department is down and recruitment is down, which is a reason they talk about pronouns and our military, which is the reason our economy is where it’s at today. So they have a senator in Washington who has forgotten about Georgia.
CQ: You’ve been talking to people all across the state. What are they telling you that they want to see in this November’s elections?
HW: What they would like to see in this election is for their voices to be heard. And that’s one of the things I’m pushing as well. I want everyone to get out and vote. I don’t know if you heard that open mic with Sen. Schumer and the president, but I told the people to not fall for that. Do not fall for that. And what I mean by that is, this race is very, very tight. This is a tight race. I want everyone to know that. I want them to get out and vote; you have to get out and vote. Don’t think that we’ve got this one because we don’t. This is a tight race. You get out and vote to have your vote… count. Have your vote counted and have your voice heard. That’s what we want to get done.
CQ: What has encouraged you the most on the campaign trail?
HW: Well, what encourages me the most is getting an opportunity to talk to people and giving them faith in our electoral system because I tell people that we cannot sit around and blame other people. We must blame ourselves as well. One of the things we’ve got to do is we got to get involved.
We just can’t sit back and want someone else to do it. We’ve got to get out and do it, and the way to do it is to have our voices heard. Don’t be afraid to speak up because they’re gonna call you names again. They’re gonna call you a racist. But no, no, no. Don’t worry about what they’re gonna call you; worry about what people want, about what’s going on in this country. And also use that motto, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”
CQ: What message do you want to send in the last couple of weeks of the campaign to the voters of Georgia?
HW: The message I like to send, and I think I’ve said it early on, in less than two short years, they see where we are right now because of Sen. Warnock and Joe Biden. Sen. Warnock was the deciding vote that could have said “no.” His vote gave us this high inflation. His vote gave us all the crime in the streets. His vote gave us an open border. His vote gave us all the things that have happened, and what I mean by that is it wasn’t just a vote. It was him going along with everything they wanted to do that tore this country down. And this has happened in less than two years. And now the senator asks for six more years, and I’m not sure if we can recover from that if we gave him six more years.
CQ: I want to shift gears just a little bit because it would be crazy not to ask you a couple of football questions. What was your reaction when the Bulldogs won the national championship in January?
HW: Well, I was very excited about it. I knew they had a very good chance at winning, and I knew that SEC game was going to be tough because Alabama came to play. But I thought it was a good thing that they lost because then, in the national championship, they knew they could come back and win that game. I think then they knew who Alabama had and they knew they come back and win. And I think that is gonna give them that springboard now. They know that they’re one of the best teams in college football and they can go out and play with anyone in college football right now.
CQ: So what do you think about our chances of repeating as national champions?
HW: I think we’ve got a very good chance, but I think Coach Smart is really smart about this in the sense that he keeping the guys low-key and letting them know that they’ve got to play every Saturday. Every Saturday, you step out on that field, you’ve got to play. They’ve got Florida this week, and even though they’re there, they’re picked to beat Florida by a lot of points. Do not take Florida easy because they’re always tough, tough games. So do not count Florida out.
Then you got Tennessee coming up. One thing you don’t want to do is overlooking Florida thinking about Tennessee. Go into that game to play Florida and go out and beat Florida and then you get ready for Tennessee.
CQ: Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it. It’s been a pleasure and an honor to talk to you. Be safe out there on the rest of the campaign trail, and Go Dawgs.
HW: Thank you, and let everyone know to go to teamherschel.com and get out and knock on doors or send funds or whatever you can do. Let’s win this great seat back for the great people of Georgia.
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