Georgia’s Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker just can’t seem to tell the truth—whether it’s about himself, his children, his businesses, or even charitable donations he may have made (but probably didn’t).
In an archived website, The New York Times uncovered a pledge from Walker’s Famous 34 and H. Walker Foods, brands that supply food to hospitals, schools, casinos, diners, sports bars, and even the U.S. military.
The website highlights that, as part of the brand’s corporate charter, “15% of all profits are given to various non-profit charitable organizations serving people in need.” The organizations are listed as Multiple Sclerosis, The Special Olympics, PE for Life programs, and the Boy Scouts.
The problem is, when the Times began reaching out to the various charities, there was little proof that Walker’s company had, in fact, given any money to the charities.
RELATED STORY: Herschel Walker says he ‘found out’ he was Black when his company became a minority-owned business
Jim Baugh, founder PE4Life Foundation, which no longer exists, told the Times, “Herschel has been supportive verbally. I don’t think he’s given us any money.” The Times cites a Jan. 2017 webpage that points to the “PE for Life program” as one of the recipients of Walker’s company’s donations, but Baugh told the outlet the organization closed its doors in 2014.
Aside from his exaggerations about charitable donations, almost more insulting is that he’s taken full advantage of his “minority business” red seal but spends his time on the campaign trail dragging the very federal programs that offer Black business owners a fair chance at success
As it was initially reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), Walker’s company, Renaissance Man Food Services (RMFS), has taken full advantage of being “a certified minority-owned food company” and winner of “Marriott’s 2016 Diversity Supplier of the year” and the “Marriott International Diversity & Inclusion Award” in 2014, per their website. But during a Hall County, Georgia, Republican event in July, Walker launched into the usual GOP rhetoric of belittling the designation of “minority-owned” as “affirmative action.”
“They have regulations for everything. … I found out that I was Black, so my company was a minority-owned business. Like wow, a minority-owned business, what does that mean? It means you’ve got to fill out all of these forms,” Walker said. “I was like, ‘I got to fill out forms to be Black?’”
The Heisman Trophy winner is running against the Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock. The Hill reports that in a recent poll, 42% of Georgians said they had a favorable view of Walker, versus 48% who said they had an unfavorable view.
Since announcing his run, the GOP and Trump-endorsed Walker has lied about everything from graduating from the University of Georgia, the AJC reported, to hiding the fact that he had any children other than his one 22-year-old son Christian, to the mammoth exaggerations about his business acumen, to the tall tale about the time he founded (or co-founded) the veteran's organization Patriot Support—which he did not. He even recently tried to deny that former President Donald Trump ever said the 2020 election was stolen.
The Times reports that during a 2009 interview with ABILITY Magazine, Walker proclaimed that “Fifteen percent of all my company profits go to charity,” adding, “As a person who was blessed, I think it’s my responsibility to share the blessing with others.”
The Times’ research pulled up crumbs proving Walker’s donations.
From the Boy Scouts of America to the Special Olympics, again and again, the comments the Times got from sources connected to the charities were either that the charities didn’t discuss donations due to privacy, the donations happened long ago, or there was no record at all of Walker’s donations.
Especially egregious is this detail from the Times regarding Walker’s alleged relationship with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. When contacted, the report says, “officials said they had received gifts from Mr. Walker, but not in the last decade. The group’s records showed that Mr. Walker had donated $860 in 2005, and Renaissance Man Food Services gave another $1,000 in 2006.”
During the same time, Walker’s company was promoting a fundraiser meant to draw donations for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. “In all, the society said, Mr. Walker helped raise $39,525 in 2005 and 2006.”
“But the group could find only one donation since then that might have come from Mr. Walker’s company: a gift of $25 from ‘RMFS’ in 2009,” per the Times.
In an archived website, The New York Times uncovered a pledge from Walker’s Famous 34 and H. Walker Foods, brands that supply food to hospitals, schools, casinos, diners, sports bars, and even the U.S. military.
The website highlights that, as part of the brand’s corporate charter, “15% of all profits are given to various non-profit charitable organizations serving people in need.” The organizations are listed as Multiple Sclerosis, The Special Olympics, PE for Life programs, and the Boy Scouts.
The problem is, when the Times began reaching out to the various charities, there was little proof that Walker’s company had, in fact, given any money to the charities.
RELATED STORY: Herschel Walker says he ‘found out’ he was Black when his company became a minority-owned business
Jim Baugh, founder PE4Life Foundation, which no longer exists, told the Times, “Herschel has been supportive verbally. I don’t think he’s given us any money.” The Times cites a Jan. 2017 webpage that points to the “PE for Life program” as one of the recipients of Walker’s company’s donations, but Baugh told the outlet the organization closed its doors in 2014.
Aside from his exaggerations about charitable donations, almost more insulting is that he’s taken full advantage of his “minority business” red seal but spends his time on the campaign trail dragging the very federal programs that offer Black business owners a fair chance at success
As it was initially reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), Walker’s company, Renaissance Man Food Services (RMFS), has taken full advantage of being “a certified minority-owned food company” and winner of “Marriott’s 2016 Diversity Supplier of the year” and the “Marriott International Diversity & Inclusion Award” in 2014, per their website. But during a Hall County, Georgia, Republican event in July, Walker launched into the usual GOP rhetoric of belittling the designation of “minority-owned” as “affirmative action.”
“They have regulations for everything. … I found out that I was Black, so my company was a minority-owned business. Like wow, a minority-owned business, what does that mean? It means you’ve got to fill out all of these forms,” Walker said. “I was like, ‘I got to fill out forms to be Black?’”
The Heisman Trophy winner is running against the Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock. The Hill reports that in a recent poll, 42% of Georgians said they had a favorable view of Walker, versus 48% who said they had an unfavorable view.
Since announcing his run, the GOP and Trump-endorsed Walker has lied about everything from graduating from the University of Georgia, the AJC reported, to hiding the fact that he had any children other than his one 22-year-old son Christian, to the mammoth exaggerations about his business acumen, to the tall tale about the time he founded (or co-founded) the veteran's organization Patriot Support—which he did not. He even recently tried to deny that former President Donald Trump ever said the 2020 election was stolen.
The Times reports that during a 2009 interview with ABILITY Magazine, Walker proclaimed that “Fifteen percent of all my company profits go to charity,” adding, “As a person who was blessed, I think it’s my responsibility to share the blessing with others.”
The Times’ research pulled up crumbs proving Walker’s donations.
From the Boy Scouts of America to the Special Olympics, again and again, the comments the Times got from sources connected to the charities were either that the charities didn’t discuss donations due to privacy, the donations happened long ago, or there was no record at all of Walker’s donations.
Especially egregious is this detail from the Times regarding Walker’s alleged relationship with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. When contacted, the report says, “officials said they had received gifts from Mr. Walker, but not in the last decade. The group’s records showed that Mr. Walker had donated $860 in 2005, and Renaissance Man Food Services gave another $1,000 in 2006.”
During the same time, Walker’s company was promoting a fundraiser meant to draw donations for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. “In all, the society said, Mr. Walker helped raise $39,525 in 2005 and 2006.”
“But the group could find only one donation since then that might have come from Mr. Walker’s company: a gift of $25 from ‘RMFS’ in 2009,” per the Times.