Herschel Walker, Donald Trump’s choice to unseat Georgia Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock, was accused of “repeatedly” threatening his ex-wife’s life, the Associated Press reports, citing its “review of hundreds of pages of public records tied to Walker’s business ventures and his divorce.”
“The documents detail accusations that Walker repeatedly threatened his ex-wife’s life, exaggerated claims of financial success and alarmed business associates with unpredictable behavior.”
Walker, 59, is Black, a conservative, and a former NFL player who is now a business owner who “has at times been open about his long struggle with mental illness, writing at length in a 2008 book about being diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, once known as multiple personality disorder.”
The AP says “it’s unclear how he would discuss these events as a candidate.”
Given the Senate’s 50-50 split and Democrats have a slim majority only when the Vice President is allowed to cast a deciding tie-breaking vote, Republicans see Senator Warnock’s seat as “a top target…as they try to take control of the U.S. Senate in next year’s midterm elections.”
“Walker’s potential bid is a wildcard,” the AP notes. “He might easily win the GOP primary with Trump’s help, setting up a general election fight against Democrat Raphael Warnock, who became Georgia’s first Black senator after a special election in January.”
Walker, who has yet to announce he is a candidate, does not live in Georgia. Trump late last month announced he “told me he’s going to, and I think he will” run. In August Walker insisted Trump is not a racist.