PRESIDENTIAL SHADE: Obama DESTROYS Herschel Walker in rally speech for Georgia candidates
Former President Barack Obama relentlessly mocked Herschel Walker while campaigning for Democratic candidates Stacey Abrams and Senator Raphael Warnock on Friday. The Chicago-raised Obama took shots at the Trump-backed Republican candidate for Senator and left the crowd cheering.
Praising the former University of Georgia football player’s skill on the field – calling Walker “amazing” and saying he was “one of the best running backs of all time,” as a former two-term President, Obama knows that it takes more than that to succeed as a senator.
When Obama asked the crowd if Walker’s football prowess made him the best person to represent Georgia in the U. S. Senate, the crowd responded with a resounding “NO!”
“Let’s do a thought experiment. Let’s say you’re at the airport and you see Mr. Walker. You say ‘hey, there’s Herschel Walker, Heisman Trophy winner, let’s have him fly the plane. You probably wouldn’t say that. You’d wanna know, does he know how to fly a plane. Or let’s say you go to the hospital and you say, you know that Walker guy sure could tear it up at Sanford Stadium, let’s give him a scalpel. You’d ask, at least I would, has he done surgery before.”
Obama: "Some of you may not remember, but Herschel Walker was a heck of a football player… does that make him the best person to represent you?… let's say you're at the airport & you see Walker & you say, Hey, there's Herschel, Heisman winner. Let's have him fly the plane!" pic.twitter.com/ObyfIsOAEA
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 29, 2022
But it’s not Walker’s past as an athlete that should disqualify him, but his apparent lack of interest in actually governing. According to The Hill, “there is little evidence that Walker has taken any interest in learning anything about public service or helping people.
“At least we don’t really know about it, and that does make you suspect,” Obama said. “Seems to me, he’s a celebrity who wants to be a politician, and we’ve seen how that goes. If a candidate’s main qualification is that he’s going to be loyal to Donald Trump, it means that he’s not really going to be thinking about you and your needs, and you deserve better,” Obama said.
Sen. Warnock added that to represent the people, one at least needed to “know stuff.”
Visibly chuckling, President Obama took a dig at Walker for pulling out a “badge” during his debate against Reverend Warnock. After asking the crowd who they thought would fight to keep them and their families safe, he added “Is it somebody who carries around a phony badge and says he’s in law enforcement like he’s a kid playing cops and robbers?”
While the 44th president was making light, he wasn’t off base in his analogies. His remarks about Walker, while funny, are unfortunately plausible.
The Republican Party has shown that lack of experience, credibility, credentials, and intellect aren’t deal breakers. It’s the same party that encouraged their base to take malaria medication for a deadly virus, eat horse paste, and refuse vaccines, so it’s not a stretch that some voters — Republicans anyway — would choose to support a totally unqualified candidate.
Gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is going head to head with current Georgia Governor Brian Kemp in a highly anticipated rematch of their 2018 battle – one that Kemp is accused of stealing from the popular voting rights advocate. Reverend Warnock defeated Trump-endorsed Republican Kelly Loeffler in 2020.
If Sen. Warnock wins in November, he will serve a full six-year term.
No longer sitting on the sidelines, Barack Obama has been campaigning for Democratic candidates in key states, most recently endorsing Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-CA) in her bid for Los Angeles mayor.
Follow Ty Ross on Twitter at @cooltxchick
