Walker’s Brutal Week: $76,000 Paid Speeches in Texas, Unpaid Business Loans, & a Turbulent Past Comes to Light

Herschel Walker’s U.S. Senate campaign continues to be mired in controversy amid unforced errors and the release of new details around his shady business record and turbulent past. Read below for details on Walker’s brutal week: 

Walker tweeted — and quickly deleted — a photo of himself at a paid private speech in Texas, triggering a fresh round of attacks and another “rough day” focused around his lucrative, closed-door speaking engagements. As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes:

• It was a rough day Thursday for Senate Republican frontrunner Herschel Walker. 

• He posted – then quickly deleted – a picture at a paid private speech at the University of North Texas. 

• It served as a reminder that Walker has held only a limited number of open public events while keeping a busy schedule of lucrative speaking engagements held behind closed doors, including outside Georgia.

• “You can’t go – or hear what he’s saying to get paid – but here’s. the info,” the state Democratic Party sent in a mock RSVP list.

A new report shows that Walker owes more than $600,000 in unpaid loans and outstanding liens — the latest in a pattern of shady business practices, in addition to a laundry list of issues in Walker’s candidacy. From the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer:

• U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker and a business partner have failed to repay $625,000 in loans used to fund a pizza franchise, court records reviewed by the Ledger-Enquirer and McClatchy News show. 

• Two Georgia counties used a Texas court judgment to place a lien of more than half a million dollars against Walker…to try to get them to pay.

• In a statement to the Ledger-Enquirer and McClatchy News, Walker’s communications director Mallory Blount did not say if Walker would pay off the debt. 

• Walker’s legal issues with Zoner’s were first reported by the Associated Press as part of an investigation into the Republican’s business dealings and personal life. The AP found that Walker exaggerated his business success and alarmed business partners with unpredictable behavior.

• Walker avoided involvement in the Texas lawsuits. Security guards would not allow legal documents to be personally delivered to Walker, who lives in a gated community in Westlake, a town northwest of Fort Worth. Attempts to contact Walker by phone were unsuccessful, court records show. 

Meanwhile, Walker’s turbulent past is coming back into focus as GOP rivals take aim. Yesterday the Associated Press reported new details about Walker’s rocky history — prompting Walker’s GOP rivals to go on offense. More from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

• Gary Black held a press conference outside of the Georgia State Capitol calling on Walker to address his turbulent past, answer for the issues Georgians care about, commit to primary debates, and open his campaign events to the public.

• While Latham Saddler lamented the “drip, drip, drip” of damaging revelations about Walker’s past, saying, “Herschel cannot win this seat.”

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