Candidate Has Long Record Of Claiming To Be A Cop (He’s Not)

Topline

The highly anticipated Georgia Senate debate between Republican Herschel Walker and incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock nearly went off the rails Friday night when Walker was scolded for displaying a “prop” police badge he claimed was proof of work in law enforcement, but there’s no evidence the Trump-endorsed candidate has ever done real police work.

Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker speaks during a rally at the Banks County Dragway on … [+] March 26, 2022 in Commerce, Georgia. (Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images)

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Key Facts

Walker pulled out the badge during a tense exchange where Warnock said “I’ve never pretended to be a police officer” after Walker accused the senator of not supporting law enforcement.

“This is real,” Walker said after the debate moderator reprimanded him for using a “prop,” which violated the rules of the debate.

Walker only held up the badge for about two seconds, but there is no record of him ever being a police officer with any actual power.

The Republican has a lengthy history of stating otherwise, such as during a 2019 speech where he mentioned he was an FBI “agent” as he told a story of angrily grabbing his gun with the intent of killing a man, and a 2017 speech where he claimed to have “FBI clearance” (Walker said in an interview this month his FBI assertion in the 2019 speech was a joke and the incident led him to seek mental health treatment).

Walker has repeatedly said he received training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and articles from 1989 do suggest he attended a program there with the hope of becoming a future agent, but there’s no sign he ever did any work for the organization—FBI agents must at least hold a bachelor’s degree, which Walker does not have.

Walker’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes.

Surprising Fact

A campaign spokeswoman told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Walker is an honorary deputy in Cobb County and three other unspecified Georgia counties, but the Cobb County Police Department told the newspaper it had no records backing up Walker’s claim.

Contra

Warnock also chided Walker for once threatening a “shootout with the police,” referring to a 2001 incident where Irving, Texas, officers said Walker threatened to shoot them as they responded to a domestic violence complaint.

Key Background

Walker’s campaign has been plagued by scandal in recent weeks, after news broke that the anti-abortion allegedly Republican paid for his then-girlfriend to terminate her pregnancy in 2009. Walker denies the story. The Georgia race is among the tightest Senate contests in the midterms and could determine control of the Senate, with the razor-thin margin expected to determine which party wins power. An Emerson College poll this week found Warnock with a two-percentage-point lead over Walker—within the survey’s three-point margin of error.

Tangent

Warnock demurred when asked whether he would back a Biden reelection campaign in 2024, but Walker gave an enthusiastic “yes” when asked if he’d support another Trump presidential run, calling the ex-president a “friend.”