Herschel Walker: It 'Hurts My Soul' To Hear People Call Trump 'Racist'

[JonLP24]

Citing a “deep, personal friendship,” retired football star Herschel Walker vouched for President Trump’s character and defended the president against Democratic claims that his repeated personal attacks on lawmakers of color, disparagement of African and Caribbean countries, criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement and other actions amount to racism.

“It hurts my soul to hear the terrible names that people call Donald. The worst one is ‘racist,’ ” Walker said tonight. “I take it as a personal insult that people would think I would have a 37-year friendship with a racist. People who think that don’t know what they are talking about. Growing up in the Deep South, I have seen racism up close. I know what it is. And it isn’t Donald Trump.”

Walker, the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner, and Trump first met in the 1980s, when Walker played for the Trump-owned New Jersey Generals in the soon-to-be-defunct USFL. Walker went on to play in the NFL but returned to the Trump orbit as a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice.

Walker is one of the president’s most high-profile Black supporters.



https://apps.npr.org/liveblogs/20200824-rnc/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=politics&utm_term=nprnews&utm_source=twitter.com#herschel-walker-43

[Nevilledog]

1. But isn't being a racist the reason MAGAts love him?

[Roland99]

2. Sad thing. He won't remember this tomorrow

[mr_lebowski]

5. CTE? nt

[Roland99]

9. Ayup. And something called D. I. D.

I’d not heard of that one before

[uponit7771]

19. West and Walker have some form of mental disorder and Trump exploits them

[mr_lebowski]

4. I don't think Trump has a huge issue with wealthy/successful black people who might have use to

him personally. He probably thinks blacks of that sort are okay.

He'll play golf with Tiger Woods, no problem.

But I pretty much guarantee that he hates poor people, ESPECIALLY if they're POC.

[DinahMoeHum]

7. He doesn't like prominent POC who won't shuck and jive for him.

and that's the long and the short of it.

[radius777]

12. +1. He hates Lebron, Beyonce, etc.

Right wingers expect PoC to be Uncle Toms, and become enraged when PoC refuse to play that role... alot of what Trumpism is about.

It's why a self-determined black man like Obama (who was fairly moderate and mild mannered otherwise) upset them so much.

It's why the kneeling of Kaepernick upset them so much.

PoC are supposed to be deferential and submissive, like a Clarence Thomas, who lives to serve the white man.

[Nexus2]

25. Trump is all right with black people

women and others that "know their place" subservient, even obedient to him and definitely not "uppity, the more useful to him the better. He's similar to my friend's racist step father who insists he isn't and doesn't get why there was a civil war: "I don' see what all the fuss was about. Weda let em go once they learned their place. But Trump's gonna set things right!"

But like most racists whites I've encountered nothing seems to get under Trump's skin more than a black person wealthier, more popular or smarter than him. especially if they're 'uppity' too.

[uponit7771]

20. Like West Walker has a mental disorder too, Trump exploits them.

[bamagal62]

6. How any person of color supports him

Is beyond me. It must have something to do with money. No other explanation.

[Afromania]

8. .........................................

[brush]

10. Poor, pitiful Herschel. He drank an extra cup of the kool-aid.

[Gothmog]

11. Too bad-trump is a racist

[Ron Green]

13. It doesn't matter if Trump's a racist or not.

What’s important is that he cons racists, and they vote for him.

[Progressive Law]

14. It is well documented that Hershel Walker has mental health issues from playing football.

I don't fault him for his position because he has been injured and his injuries may not be recoverable.

[rufus dog]

16. Not so sure

Hershel didn't come across as the most intelligent guy coming out of college. An amazing physical specimen, but he was never someone who had any deep thoughts.

[RANDYWILDMAN]

15. Read Mary Trump's book Dude

not that hard. Things he would say in front of his family he really means.

[Thekaspervote]

17. Hey dud...he has no soul, maybe yours can be saved if you turn your back on this evil scum NOW!

[muriel_volestrangler]

18. Herschel, have you ever considered that you may not have a soul?

After all, you're friends with Donald Trump, and, even ignoring his racism, that's still a highly-scumbag thing to be.

Maybe what's "hurting" is actually a small twinge of your conscience that you've ruined your character by associating with an evil fascist, and you are enabling fascism by coming out with crap like this to support him.

[UCmeNdc]

21. Well, he has always been nice to me.

So what if he allows people in his audience to call President Obama a monkey. A direct racist insult to all black people, as a lead uncle tom, I see nothing wrong with that.

[mnmoderatedem]

22. OK Herschel try doing this

tell your good friend of 37 years who's not a racist to stand up at that convention and say loud and proud that he does not want a single white supremacist to vote for him and does not want their collective support at all. That should be very easy for a non racist to do.

trump has ducked that question time and time again.

[North Shore Chicago]

23. Walker

sounds as though he took a lot of direct hits. Poor guy.

[DFW]

24. I have never heard of the guy

But I don’t follow football, either, so maybe I have missed something.

[tanyev]

26. Regardless of what you feel, Herschel, Trump does not have deep, personal friendships with anyone.