Thinking Herschel Walker was a 'genius plan' was a moment of 'collective insanity': GOP strategist

How Republicans ended up with retired NFL running back Herschel Walker as their nominee in the Georgia Senate race was the subject of a new Washington Post deep-dive based on "interviews with 19 people involved at various times with the Walker campaign, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal internal matters."

The story was published under the headline, "GOP crisis in Herschel Walker race was nearly two years in the making."

"In early 2021, as football star Herschel Walker considered running for Senate, he approached some of Georgia’s top Republican operatives about advising his campaign. The operatives were warned about political vulnerabilities in Walker’s past — including allegations of violence against women — that were openly discussed in the state’s political circles, according to people familiar with the discussions," the newspaper reported. "Those consultants passed on working with Walker, but he pressed ahead with his campaign."

Establishment Republicans did not mount a viable challenge to the Trump-backed Heisman Trophy winner.

Buzz about Walker running in 2022 came during the 2020 Georgia Senate runoffs.

"Republican operatives discussed Walker’s potential weaknesses, including his struggles with mental health, which Walker had acknowledged in a book, and a rumored abortion, according to Liz Mair, a GOP opposition researcher working on the runoffs. Mair said she warned others that the abortion rumor would plague Walker as a candidate, but people thought they could keep it hidden," the newspaper reported.

Mair went on record with The Post.

“Across the board, Republicans in the state knew about it and decided they didn’t care,” Mair said. “I don’t know if it was a moment of collective insanity when a bunch of people all said, ‘Seems like a genius plan.’"

Read the full report.