Of all the possible candidates the Republicans could have run, why did they choose Herschel Walker? But before we armchair debate that question, and hear from Fox News about the failings of its party, let’s set the final record straight.
The former NFL player should never have been put into play in the first place. He was the wrong man for a job he didn’t understand and had zero qualifications for. And now, the GOP has the caucasity to do a deep dive into why this complete and totally embarrassing trash fire of a candidate lost.
Fox News’ Laura Ingraham says she’s “pissed” about Walker’s loss and blames it on the GOP and its lack of support for Walker. "We felt this coming. To me, it never felt like the Senate Republicans wanted this guy in office. He was a Trump pick, and they didn't like that.”
RELATED STORY: Alito interrupts Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to crack ‘joke’ about Black kids in KKK costumes
"There wasn't the intensity on the part of the Republicans as there was on the part of the Democrats. I felt it, and you felt it. [...] But we don't change anything! We have the same people in place in leadership. The same people in place, apparently, at the RNC—perhaps that's not changing. We are doing the same thing over and over again,” Ingraham said last night in an 18-second rant seen at the time of this writing by about 750,000 people on Twitter.
For months, Daily Kos has covered Walker’s past, from his ubiquitous lies to the hypocrisies, incidents of domestic violence, and his pervasive, troubling and incoherent comments—not to mention his virulent hatred of the LGBTQ community.
Did Ingraham not see Walker surrounded constantly by two senators at all times in the last few weeks? Sens. Lindsey Graham, Rick Scott, Ted Cruz, and rabid right-winger and former head of the Christian Coalition, Ralph Reed, were at his side at every photo op and campaign stop.
But let’s not get distracted. Fox News and the GOP will desperately try today to pivot this loss that gives Democrats a 51-49 majority in the upper chamber of Congress, and we must keep our eye on the ball. Republicans will likely place the blame for Walker’s loss on former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Walker. They will attempt to distance themselves from Trump, Walker, and all the other loser candidates who were equally unqualified to run. But, for Walker, the GOP needs to be held responsible.
Walker’s candidacy was humiliating for any logical American. But for Black Americans in particular, he represented every demeaning trope we have tried to run away from since being kidnapped and dragged to this nation and forced into slavery for centuries.
For Black men specifically, Walker’s the trope of the absent father and uncontrolled and violent monster. He can barely complete a sentence, and when he does, it’s not just cringe-worthy but opaque and baffling. He’s a trophy-winning athlete, and we all know what white Americans think of the physicality of Black people. The GOP even gave him a campaign slogan, “Run Herschel, Run,” without ever thinking for a second what those words meant to Black Americans.
Lastly, he’s self-loathing, the GOP’s favorite flavor of Black person—like Ye, Justice Clarance Thomas, and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, to name a few.
So, why would the GOP run this guy? Because he is all those awful tropes. And most of all, he can easily be controlled because of them. They ran him because his skin is the same color as his opponent’s, and that is all Republicans see when they look at the two men. Sen. Raphael Warnock, 53, with all of his accomplishments and experience, is no different in their eyes than Herschel Walker, compulsive liar and bigot.
The difference is that Warnock will now serve the next six years in the Senate. Of the more than 2,000 people to have ever served in the Senate, Warnock is one of only 11 Black members. With all the tricks the Republicans played to suppress the Democratic and Black votes in Georgia, the qualified candidate ultimately came out on top.
With the Republican Party gearing up to take the majority in the 2023 Congressional term, the disarray they have been experiencing the past six years is now at Keystone Cops-level hilarity. Markos and Kerry speak with Daily Kos Senior Staff Writer Joan McCarter. Joan covers the Congress day-in and day-out, and has done so for a decade. She gives Markos and Kerry an enjoyable blow-by-blow of the Republican mud wrestling match going on right now.
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The former NFL player should never have been put into play in the first place. He was the wrong man for a job he didn’t understand and had zero qualifications for. And now, the GOP has the caucasity to do a deep dive into why this complete and totally embarrassing trash fire of a candidate lost.
Fox News’ Laura Ingraham says she’s “pissed” about Walker’s loss and blames it on the GOP and its lack of support for Walker. "We felt this coming. To me, it never felt like the Senate Republicans wanted this guy in office. He was a Trump pick, and they didn't like that.”
RELATED STORY: Alito interrupts Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to crack ‘joke’ about Black kids in KKK costumes
"There wasn't the intensity on the part of the Republicans as there was on the part of the Democrats. I felt it, and you felt it. [...] But we don't change anything! We have the same people in place in leadership. The same people in place, apparently, at the RNC—perhaps that's not changing. We are doing the same thing over and over again,” Ingraham said last night in an 18-second rant seen at the time of this writing by about 750,000 people on Twitter.
For months, Daily Kos has covered Walker’s past, from his ubiquitous lies to the hypocrisies, incidents of domestic violence, and his pervasive, troubling and incoherent comments—not to mention his virulent hatred of the LGBTQ community.
Did Ingraham not see Walker surrounded constantly by two senators at all times in the last few weeks? Sens. Lindsey Graham, Rick Scott, Ted Cruz, and rabid right-winger and former head of the Christian Coalition, Ralph Reed, were at his side at every photo op and campaign stop.
But let’s not get distracted. Fox News and the GOP will desperately try today to pivot this loss that gives Democrats a 51-49 majority in the upper chamber of Congress, and we must keep our eye on the ball. Republicans will likely place the blame for Walker’s loss on former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Walker. They will attempt to distance themselves from Trump, Walker, and all the other loser candidates who were equally unqualified to run. But, for Walker, the GOP needs to be held responsible.
Walker’s candidacy was humiliating for any logical American. But for Black Americans in particular, he represented every demeaning trope we have tried to run away from since being kidnapped and dragged to this nation and forced into slavery for centuries.
For Black men specifically, Walker’s the trope of the absent father and uncontrolled and violent monster. He can barely complete a sentence, and when he does, it’s not just cringe-worthy but opaque and baffling. He’s a trophy-winning athlete, and we all know what white Americans think of the physicality of Black people. The GOP even gave him a campaign slogan, “Run Herschel, Run,” without ever thinking for a second what those words meant to Black Americans.
Lastly, he’s self-loathing, the GOP’s favorite flavor of Black person—like Ye, Justice Clarance Thomas, and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, to name a few.
So, why would the GOP run this guy? Because he is all those awful tropes. And most of all, he can easily be controlled because of them. They ran him because his skin is the same color as his opponent’s, and that is all Republicans see when they look at the two men. Sen. Raphael Warnock, 53, with all of his accomplishments and experience, is no different in their eyes than Herschel Walker, compulsive liar and bigot.
The difference is that Warnock will now serve the next six years in the Senate. Of the more than 2,000 people to have ever served in the Senate, Warnock is one of only 11 Black members. With all the tricks the Republicans played to suppress the Democratic and Black votes in Georgia, the qualified candidate ultimately came out on top.
With the Republican Party gearing up to take the majority in the 2023 Congressional term, the disarray they have been experiencing the past six years is now at Keystone Cops-level hilarity. Markos and Kerry speak with Daily Kos Senior Staff Writer Joan McCarter. Joan covers the Congress day-in and day-out, and has done so for a decade. She gives Markos and Kerry an enjoyable blow-by-blow of the Republican mud wrestling match going on right now.
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