GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker has been overstating his academic achievements for years - CNNPolitics
Category: News & Politics
Via: gulliver • 2 years ago • 57 commentsBy: Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck (CNN)
Herschel Walker is a self-inflating serial liar. In other words, a perfect match for the MAGA party.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
(CNN)For years, Herschel Walker has told the same inspiring story: that he graduated in the top 1% of his class at the University of Georgia. He's told the story, according to a review of his speeches by CNN's KFile, during motivational speeches over the years and as recently as 2017. The only problem: it's not true.
Walker, who is a candidate in the Republican primary race for US Senate in Georgia, acknowledged in December that he did not graduate from Georgia after the Atlanta-Journal Constitution first reported that the false claim was listed on his campaign website. But a CNN KFile review found that Walker himself has been repeating the claim for years. Walker's comments in 2017, and others made over the years, show the former football star repeatedly misrepresented his academic credentials. "And all of sudden I started going to the library, getting books, standing in front of a mirror reading to myself," Walker said in a 2017 motivational speech. "So that Herschel that all the kids said was retarded become valedictorian of his class. Graduated University of Georgia in the top 1% of his class." Walker also made the claim in another interview in 2017. Read More "I also was in the top 1% of my graduating class of college," Walker told Sirius XM radio. Walker did not graduate from Georgia, where he was a star running back after entering as a prized high school recruit. A profile of Walker from 1982 in the Christian-Science Monitor and an article in The New York Times said he maintained a B average at the school. Walker himself told The Chicago Tribune in 1985 he maintained a 3.0 before his grades dropped. He left to play professional football before graduating and, though having repeatedly said he was returning to obtain his degree, he never received a diploma. The Walker campaign did not provide proof of Walker's claims when asked by CNN, but they defended his record as a professional athlete. Walker is endorsed by former President Donald Trump and is expected to be the Republican nominee to run against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in November. The claim was removed from his website between December and January, according to screenshots from the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. That was not the only claim about Walker's education that was adjusted on his website at the time. After a review of the revised site, CNN's KFile found another little-noticed claim was removed that said Walker graduated valedictorian of his high school. The website now says that Walker graduated "top of his class." The claim still remains on the Heisman Winners page for Walker. While Walker was a top student at his high school and the president of the Beta Club -- he maintained an "A" average to be in the school's Beta Club -- CNN's KFile found no evidence he was the class valedictorian. Walker has mentioned in numerous speeches over the years, including in the 2017 speech where he claimed to have graduated in the top 1% of his college class, and in his 2008 autobiography that he was class valedictorian at Johnson County High School. The street where Johnson County High School resides was officially renamed "Herschel Walker Drive" in 2017 in honor of Walker's football achievements. "If I'm proud of anything I did in my high school career, it's what I did in the classroom that I reflect on and relish the most. I did more than just shed the "stupid" label placed on me as a result of my speech impediment. I shed it, erased it, and rewrote it with the titles: Beta Club president and class valedictorian," wrote Walker in his 2008 "Breaking Free: My Life with Dissociative Identity Disorder." CNN's KFile reviewed Walker's high school yearbooks and coverage of him in local newspapers at the time. According to the local newspaper The Wrightsville Headlight, at Walker's 1980 graduation he was not given the award for the student with the highest GPA in any academic subject. He did tie with another student for a leadership award based on participation in clubs and his GPA, and won numerous awards that year for his football achievements. While Walker was one of the ceremony's honor graduates, the article does not mention the school naming a valedictorian or a salutatorian. A 15-year review of local press coverage did not find the school naming a valedictorian until 1994 -- when the paper acknowledged the school was naming a valedictorian and salutatorian for the first time in "many years." Walker's campaign did not provide evidence that Walker graduated as his high school's valedictorian other than pointing to news articles from the early 1980s after he began his career at the University of Georgia making the claim. "There is not a single voter in Georgia who believes that whether Herschel graduated at the 'top of his class' or as Valedictorian 40 years ago has any bearing on his ability to be a great United States Senator," Mallory Blount, communications director for the campaign, said in a statement. The campaign also did not provide an explanation for why it removed the claim that Walker was valedictorian from his website. When repeatedly asked if the campaign stood by the since-removed claim from his website, the Walker's campaign manager Scott Paradise sent the same statement three times in a row which did not address KFile's questions. "Multiple reporters wrote about this 40 years ago. If you have a problem with what they wrote, please contact them. If you have a difficult time getting in touch with them, ask yourself why you are asking such a stupid question," said Paradise to CNN. Johnson County Schools declined to comment and directed questions to Walker's campaign when asked if they named a valedictorian that year or if Walker was the top student.
An evolving claim
It's unclear when Walker began claiming he graduated from Georgia, and press accounts began listing him as returning to get his degree as early as 1983 after he left to join the United States Football League, a rival to the National Football League in the 1980s. Walker joined the New Jersey Generals, which was owned by then-businessman Trump. Over the years, Walker repeatedly told interviewers he had gone back to Georgia during the off-season to take classes. A 1986 article from The Dallas Morning News on his football career states Walker completed his degree in criminal justice and features a quote from Walker talking about his degree. "Getting a degree is one of the paths you can take on the way to becoming an FBI man," Walker said. "Of course, my life is not going in that direction right now, but I think police work, especially the FBI, would be my choice if I wasn't a pro football player." Speaking on a YouTube show in 2008, following the release of his book, Walker told the interviewer he went back to get his college degree from University of Georgia "You know it was said whether I leave or stay in school. It came up that I leave -- and what was weird about that is people said, 'Why would you leave college so early?' And that's like guys, 'I went back to get my degree which is what you're supposed to do.'" Press reports from the time of the book's publication listed Walker's website for his book and subsequent speaking on mental health as HerschelWalker.net -- which also said Walker returned to college and completed his degree. The claim is brought up in interviews with Walker, on at least two separate occasions -- with the host saying he returned to get his degree. In neither instance did Walker correct interviewers.
CNN's Sam Woodward and Drew Myers contributed to this report.
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It only gets better:
Herschel Walker doesn't understand how evolution works. 'Why are there still apes?'
no shortage of morons in trumpublican party.
They're all morons.
The party of joe Biden won’t stand for that.
Yes, we Democrats do not proudly elevate self-inflating serial liars.
You, on the other hand, have written a comment that speaks for itself.
Somewhere, someone's mother is looking down from heaven in disappointment upon a son who has lost his way.
Please,..... the Clinton's spring to mind..
Good luck finding Democrats who are proud of the Clintons.
Perhaps the Obamas then?...
Lying is considered to be a defect by Democrats and a superpower by Republicans.
Ha, thanks for the laugh
Are you unable to tell the extent to which Trump lied about everything from his networth, to his taxes, to his hush money to porn stars, to the size of his inaugural address, the size of his 2020 electoral defeat and just about anything at all? For God's sake he got his WH doctor to lie about his weight and the rest of his health. He lies when the truth would do just as well.
Yes, a deflect....but also an expectation.
Oh, but you do.
Tell us which campaign promise Biden has told the truth with.
Well there is one where he stated he wanted to destroy the oil industry. That one is coming true
Also, apparently you are OK with serial plagiarists as old Joe has been busted more than once during college and during his career as a politician.
Are you at all familiar with Joe Biden?. That he is a self inflating serial liar is what he's most famous for.
You know he was literally busted for lying about his academic record, in one of his failed campaigns, right?
Or are you just saying you are embarrassed for elevating a self inflating serial liar? Because that would make sense.
, someone's mother is looking down from heaven in disappointment upon a son who has lost his way.
Oh, I imagine Joe Biden's mother is still proud he's President, the decades of self inflating serial lying aside.
Democrats did not proudly elevate Joe Biden. Joe Biden was the moderate Democrats settled on in the end. And Democrats do not want him to run again.
Trump on the other hand?
He gives the toxic, racist, MAGA insurrectionists a 24/7 "own the libs boner" with his firehose of daily lies.
Proving my assertion that Democrats consider lying to be a defect while the sort of Republicans who grace this website with their truthsocial erudition seem to admire lying as their favorite politician's superpower.
According to Politifact, one year into his presidency 16% of his promises were kept, 3% were met with a compromise, 46% are in the works, 24% are stalled and 0% are categorized as broken promises (with an asterisk for an explanation of that stat which will likely increase.)
Source:
Politifact: Tracking Biden's campaign promises, one year in
As to your assertion that Biden promised to kill the oil industry, that of course is not what he said. He said we need to transition away from fossil fuels and he said that before Covid through a curveball at the oil industry:
Source:
Forbes: What Is Holding Back U.S. Oil Production?
The problem with Politifact is that it is a far left leaning rag and will never tell the truth about a leftist, in which Biden has proven to be.
As far as killing the oil industry, in which you do not recognize, he is not transitioning away from anything. He has doubled down on killing the industry outright by forcing Americans to not be able to afford oil products. Maybe your 5 dollar gas does not recognize that either.I will be a great day in America when Ron DeSantis becomes your next president in 2024.
"...the moderate Democrats settled on in the end."
That was a huge mistake. Seems lots of Dems are suffering buyer's remorse after electing Biden.
Facts are well known to have a liberal bias.
Clearly you did not read the article at Forbes about the difficulties the oil companies are encountering in bringing supply back to prepandemic levels.
Biden has gone hat in hand to Opec to beg them to increase supply.
So I would rate your comment 5 flaming Pinnochios.
I think most of the Democrats who are unhappy with Biden are ageist. Millennials are so damned annoying.
Me? I think he's mostly done a good job on a policy level. Inflation is obviously where people are most unhappy and probably the best things we could do with regard to addressing materials and labor shortages would be two things that might be hard to sell: easing up on tariffs and immigration.
The Fed is going to attempt to address interest rates and money supply but the Fed can't do anything about material and labor shortages. The oil industry, in particular, would benefit from an increased labor supply and reduced tariffs on steel.
Sorry, but I fail to see how the Afghanistan debacle and the pathetic fiasco on our Southern border and foreign policy in general equates to "...mostly done a good job on a policy level."
He got us out of Afghanistan. We sat in that country for a generation with people constantly trying to imagine some sort of peace with honor scenario that was never in the cards.
We have had a border crisis going back to every president since GWB or Clinton. Heck, Reagan gave a huge amnesty. I forget the exact date we did it but at some point the USA got on board with the idea that we should offer sanctuary to victims of abuse and persecution not only from governments but from non-state actors as well. That means that everyone fleeing from gang violence or domestic abuse can seek asylum. As a bleeding heart liberal I appreciate the sentiment. As a person who has done a quick estimate on the back of an envelope I would say the amount of people in the world who can claim asylum under American law exceeds the population of America.
But to act like the problem started with Biden is disingenuous.
Seriously? If the former and future president is Donald Trump then it is relevant to point out that Trump's foreign policy was basically that of having a Russian asset in the Oval Office.
Are we still in Afghanistan? No, we aren't.
Should we have stayed there forever? Should we have ever even invaded it?
The answer to that last one is no. We could have dealt with Afghanistan as a special ops to take out bin Laden. All we really wanted was Osama bin Laden at the bottom of the ocean and we got that under Obama. We didn't get that through regime change. We got that through intelligence and special ops.
The real reason we invaded Afghanistan and Iraq was to mess with Iran. That all out miserably and that was the brainchild of the GWB administration.
That's just an arbitrary laying of blame on Biden. Did Trump fix the problem in his four years?
I think I am just going to start blocking completely ignorant people here on NT.
I honestly don't know how someone pays money each month to platform hate speech and isn't ashamed to have their real name associated with it. But that's not my problem.
That is, of course, true, and Trump continues to shill for his partner and ally Putin, praising the genocidal invasion of Ukraine as "genius". His persistent insistence on the Big Lie and constant degradation of the American electoral system is a gift to Putin.
He didn’t get everyone out.
Not everyone.
We invaded Afghanistan with two objectives; kill/capture Al Qaeda, Punish Taliban for harboring them. Our initial force was CIA, Special Forces and 300 Rangers. By Dec 2001 that force had grown to 2,500 with 500 US Marines and 1,200 US soldiers. Rumsfeld intended to leave Afghanistan in 2002. We had 7 military killed by the end of 2001.
In Feb, 2002 after fights between DoD, who still intended to leave Afghanistan that year and State Dept who wanted continued stability operations, Bush decided to leave a small force to ensure that Al Qaeda didn't return. State Department announces strategy to help the Afghans build a stable government and launch reconstruction initiatives. This was the beginning of mission creep.
By the end of 2007, our forces there had grown to 25,000. We had by then lost 411 military members, Obama doubled down on Bush's failed nation building and campaigned in 2008 on "winning the war the must be won". By Feb 2010, we have a US Force of 100,000 there. That year, we would lose 496 military, the most lost in any one year.
What is missing here is not that we are out of Afghanistan, which I am glad we are, it's how we left Afghanistan. That was not an evacuation, that was a rout, and to the rest of the world, Biden had our military leave with their tail between their legs. Out troops deserved much better leadership from the White House and the top Pentagon brass. In addition, there is absolutely no good reason we should have gifted the murderous Taliban regime with 7 billion dollars of good military equipment left behind. Pathetic!
I couldn’t agree more.
But you left out our inexplicable war with Iraq.
Iran has Iraq to the west and Afghanistan to the east. In the wildest dreams of Rumsfeld and GWB we were going to bracket Iran between western style democracies and Iran would tumble like a cold war domino.
When I see you tabulate this insanity, Biden's decision to rip off the bandaid doesn't look so bad. It went badly, no doubt, but we had deluded ourselves that we had built up a government in Afghanistan that didn't even exist. It wasn't that they fell overnight. It was that there was nothing there except a lot of account ledgers with nothing to show for them. Everything went straight to the black market, to shady militias, or to unused construction projects. They were just scamming us for our dollars.
That occurred 18 months later.
You know the geography, but not why we went to war in Afghanistan.
That is a shame, of course.
I've never served in the military but it seems that there are three things about wars that we should always keep in mind: (1) they don't start well (2) they don't proceed well and (3) they do not end well.
Everyone hates Nixon for prolonging the Vietnam war after he said he had a secret plan to end the war. That plan seemed to involve an off the books war in Cambodia, but I digress. But when he finally ended the Viet Nam war it was a humiliation with that last helicopter leaving from the top of the embassy with the Viet Cong nipping at their heels. We couldn't negotiate a dignified exit then and we couldn't now.
That war ended between North Vietnam and the US on January 28 1973. We evacuated our embassy in Saigon on 30 April, 1975, 27 months later, Ford was President.
And here is how it looked:
One should never blame our military for politicians fuck ups. Vietnam is a great example. Militarily we never lost one major engagement in that war and yet most people think we lost it.
The military didn’t lose that war. Politicians did. They usually do.
Agree 100%. The rank and file military have always been the pawns of the whims of our elected officials. Thus the old saying "Ours not to reason why, our but to do or die.
By your own admission you never served, and that's okay as not all are meant to serve. I however served 20 years in two wars in the US Navy from Vietnam to the 1st Gulf War. Like other vets on this site, I saw combat so forgive me if I do not share your perspective on war. No offense meant and apologies for any given. Peace to you and a good day as well.
With all due respect, Ed...how would you have done it any better? Do you honestly think trmp would have done a better job?
Which war did you win?
Which war did "I" claim to have won? Please be specific. I merely said we had different perspectives, nothing more.
I think there should have been a much better planned exit strategy and that it had been adhered to. It obviously was not. I cannot say whether Trump would have done a better job or not. All I am concerned with now is what happened under President Biden.
WAR IS A MERE CONTINUATION OF POLICY BY OTHER MEANS. Claus Clausewitz.
I don't believe that we won every major battle in the Vietnam war. What constitutes a "major" battle? There is no official list of "major" battles of the Vietnam War. Some battles could plausibly be classified as either major or minor, or else be classified as one battle within a broader campaign.
If we go by what battles most Americans have heard of we did win the majority with, IMO LZ Albany and Fire Base Ripcord were both losses by the US.
There were many ''smaller'' battles that raged for minutes and some days. Those that were there are quite cognizant of this and we bled a lot of blood and lives in these little or unknown battles.
Some of the major battles that we won, in the end, didn't give us what we wanted in the public view. Tet was a major win for the US but the senior military was telling the American public that the NVA was on its last legs, weak and ready to fold for weeks before the battle and Tet showed that that was BS.
Hamburger Hill was a ''win'' for the US but a political disaster for the US. 10 days of trying to take a hill and when we finally took it with heavy casualties we abandoned it a few days later and the Americans saw was was a huge waste of American lives for a useless hill that we abandoned a few days later.
IMO, the senior military leadership in Vietnam was poor at best. Priorities, battle plans etc changed on a regular basis.
My thanks go to every vet that fought in that useless war and especially to the few that are NT members.
We came back to the world and it was as fucked up as Nam.
Agree with you 100%.
Thanks, Doc, one other thing. Years after the war a US politician was in Vietnam and told Col Tu of the NVA that we won every major battle Tu's reply was ''irrelevant, you lost the war''
That says it all.
A great and telling quote.
Yep.
Herschel is another scummy republican. Lies about everything. Pretends to be a good dad but how many bastards does he have that he isn't paying child support for?
Two are young enough for child support, how does he avoid paying it?
Lizzy Warren was overheard saying:
“Rookie”
So what about Joe Biden? Or is the only outrage about an African American Republican candidate?
Ah selective moral outrage from leftists. Still elected Brandon to the White House didn't you?
Walker was convincing as the President in Idiocracy!
The thought is hilarious.
I had to Google that because I don't follow sports.
Turns out it was Terry Crews. The only other thing I knew about him is his fairly easy but really good mac and cheese recipe:
The more I read about Terry Crews the more I like him:
How dare this Uncle Tom run for office.
It just rocks delicate sensibilities all around the hive