The New York Times claimed on Monday that Republican Herschel Walker, who is running against Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) for U.S. Senate in Georgia, is “not part of the Black community” in his hometown, according to Breitbart News.
Times reporter John Branch used mostly anonymous sources and anecdotes from visiting Walker’s hometown of Wrightsville to generalize that feelings that Walker is not in touch with the black community are “flowering ahead of November’s election.”
“Herschel’s not getting the Black vote because Herschel forgot where he came from. … He’s not part of the Black community,” wrote Branch, quoting a black former high school teacher and coach of Walker’s.
Branch then goes on to contend that after Walker chose not to partake in civil rights protests in his hometown in 1980, around the same time he signed on to play football at the University of Georgia, the “intersection” of these two events now four decades later “may help decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate.”
Meanwhile, Walker highlighted the two candidates’ differing perspectives on the issue in a recent ad buy airing all across Georgia with the message that “Warnock believes America is a bad country full of racist people. I believe we’re a great country full of generous people. … Warnock wants to divide us. I want to bring us together.”