Republican candidate Herschel Walker is hawking fake police badges to supporters in an effort to take advantage of what pundits considered a gaffe in his tight Georgia U.S. Senate race.
Days after Walker whipped out an “honorary badge” during a high-stakes debate with Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, the retired football star’s campaign ordered 1,000 plastic replica badges that it plans to use as campaign gimmicks.
Walker’s effort is to turn a widely mocked debate moment into an unlikely positive as the race heads into the home stretch.
“Herschel Walker has been a friend to law enforcement and has a record of honoring police,” said Gail Gitcho, a Walker campaign strategist, told NBC News. “If Sen. Warnock wants to highlight this, then bring it on.”
The “I’m With Herschel” badges were not yet available for purchase on Walker’s campaign website Tuesday.
Walker is slightly trailing Warnock in polls, although the race remains too close to call with three weeks remaining until the election.
Republicans believe the Georgia seat and another toss-up race in Nevada are their best chance of flipping blue seats and grabbing control of the Senate from Democrats.
Walker’s supporters say he outperformed low expectations in the only planned face-to-face debate with Warnock.
But most observers considered it a mistake to pull out the badge, which may remind some voters of Walker’s repeated false claims to be a real law enforcement agent.
Walker’s campaign apparently disagrees. In a Monday interview with NBC, he pulled out the badge again and claimed it gives him authority to “do stuff” for cops, even though the sheriff’s group that gave him the badge says it’s only ornamental.
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