POLITICS
Herschel Walker’s Problem with the Truth
It’s no surprise Donald Trump endorsed him.
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There was a boy who lived a few blocks from my childhood home in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The boy (I’ll call him Jason) was younger than me, so we didn’t interact much. The one thing I remember about him was his prolific lying. For the most part, Jason‘s lies were the kind of harmless flights of fancy found in a child’s imagination.
Once, when Jason didn’t show up for a visit with one of my younger brothers, his excuse was that he was skydiving with his older brother. Aside from the fact that he was only ten or eleven years old, the problem with this tall tale was that everyone knew Jason’s brother was out of state. He was serving in the military. On another occasion, Jason told the entire neighborhood his parents allowed him to purchase a pet boa constrictor. To the neighborhood’s collective relief, Jason’s story wasn’t true.
The more I read about Herschel Walker’s Trump-endorsed candidacy in Georgia’s upcoming senate race, the more I’m reminded of Jason.
Why? Never mind the fact that Walker can’t articulate a single cogent policy solution, refuses to debate his opponents, and has a history of violent behavior — the man is a compulsive liar. I only believe him when he says he played in the NFL because I saw him do so with my own two eyes.
Aside from Walker’s lies about his businesses, he’s lied about his education. For example, Walker has repeatedly said he was the valedictorian of his class in high school. But here’s what CNN’s KFile found out after looking into his claim:
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…
