Bulls, sheriff badges and now, martians.
All the above-mentioned nouns have now, somehow, been featured in Republican candidate Herschel Walker’s speeches over the past few months as he rallies to beat the Democratic incumbent, Raphael Warnock, in Georgia’s bitter Senate race.
Ahead of the midterms, the GOP candidate made a final push on Sunday night for voters to get out and vote at a campaign rally in Hiram, Georgia.
While standing at the pulpit, the former football player turned politician proclaimed: “If you’re a martian and you live in the United States of America, I’m gonna protect you too. Because you belong to my family.”
Explanation for the remark was not provided, nor did the GOP candidate expound on that offer to extra-terrestrial forms of life beyond that. The feedback online was, unsurprisingly, swift in calling out the Senate candidate who has frequently been panned for his seemingly off-script remarks made during high-profile speeches.
“Herschel Walker just announced that he’s going to protect any Martians who live in the United States because they belong to his family. Martians. I listened to the video three times — he really said Martians,” tweeted Jon Cooper, an anti-Trump Twitter personality.
“No biggie. Just Herschel Walker assuring extraterrestrials from the planet Mars that he has their back,” tweeted another online observer.
This latest blip in Mr Walker’s history of speeches would hardly seem to register as his most headline-grabbing offence. Earlier in the fall, he was admonished by a debate moderator for pulling out a “prop” badge after Sen Warnock accused him of lying about being a police officer.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Mr Walker made a separate headline-garnering flub when he made a bizarre analogy about cows and bulls, saying: “It’s about everybody thinking it’s better somewhere else … And I remember talking about this bull that was out in the field and he said six cows with him. Three of them were expecting calves.”
He continued: “Not worried about what he got now, the grass is as tall as his knees, all he had to do is eat grass,” he said. “He measured that fence up, and he said ‘you know what? I think I can jump this fence and get over there to those other cows.’”
Before entering politics to challenge Sen Warnock for his seat in Georgia, Mr Walker’s career was predominantly in the football field. He played for the Dallas Cowboys, the Minnesota Vikings, the Philadelphia Eagles, the New York Giants, and returned to the Cowboys for a final year before retiring in 1997.
The former NFL player, who has never won a Super Bowl title, has the backing of former President Donald Trump. His political platform closely aligns with MAGA Republicans, touting a strong stance against abortion and supporting the unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was stolen from the 45th president.
