President-elect Donald Trump has a new strategy for his longtime friend and ally, former football star Herschel Walker.
Three years after President Trump hand-picked Walker to run in his home state of Georgia in an important, competitive and expensive high-profile Senate race, the president-elect is now We are selecting a friend to be the U.S. ambassador to the Caribbean country. of the Bahamas.
“Herschel has served as an ambassador to our nation's young people, our military men and women, and our national and international athletes for decades,” President Trump said in a social media statement Tuesday night, adding that Walker's resume listed. During President Trump's first term in the White House, he served as co-chair of the President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition.
Herschel Walker proves it's never too late
Former college football star Herschel Walker (right) speaks at a political rally as former President Donald Trump applauds on September 25, 2021 in Perry, Georgia. (Reuters/Dustin Chambers)
Walker is a former professional and college football star and running back who won the Heisman Trophy and helped lead the University of Georgia to a national championship.
Trump's friendship with the former and future president dates back to their days playing for Trump's USFL football team, the New Jersey Generals, in the 1980s. Walker was a major Trump supporter and surrogate in the 2020 presidential campaign.
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In August 2021, Walker began his Republican Senate campaign in Georgia after months of support and encouragement to run against President Trump.
Walker, a first-time politician, was plagued by controversial statements and damaging revelations about his personal life and business career during his run in the Senate.
Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker holds a campaign rally in Cumming, Georgia on October 27, 2022. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
The race between Walker and Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock ended up being one of the most-watched Senate battles of the 2022 midterm elections. The campaign went into overtime, and Walker narrowly lost to Warnock in a run-off in December of that year.
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Walker joined Trump on the campaign trail in Georgia this year, days before Election Day, as the former president carried the key southeast battleground state that he narrowly lost to President Biden four years ago.
Former NFL running back and former Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker addresses the crowd at a rally for former President Donald Trump on November 3, 2024 in Macon, Georgia. (John Moore/Getty Images)
Walker is the third Republican to lose the Georgia Senate race that President Trump has nominated for a post in his second administration.
Former Sen. David Perdue, who lost his seat to Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in the 2020 cycle, was chosen by President Trump to be ambassador to China, and former Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who lost to Warnock in the 2020 cycle, was selected. President Trump appointed him to run the Small Business Administration.
President Trump's appointment of Walker as ambassador to the Bahamas marks the second time the former soccer player has made headlines this month.
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Last weekend, Walker graduated from the University of Georgia, 42 years since he last attended the school.
