According to a new report from HuffPost, Georgia Republican U.S. Senate nominee Herschel Walker has lied “for months that he has significant Native American ancestry, saying each time that he’d just learned this news from his mom.” Just last month, Walker went so far as to say that his grandma was “full-blood Cherokee.”
The problem? Walker’s own mother “has no idea if an immediate ancestor was full-blooded Cherokee” and the Walker campaign has provided no evidence to back up his claim.
HuffPost: Herschel Walker Says His Grandma Was ‘Full-Blood Cherokee.’ His Mom Says Otherwise.
By: Jennifer Bendery | October 12, 2022
Key Points:
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“At a little-noticed campaign event late last month, Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker announced with great fanfare that his grandmother was “full-blood Cherokee” and that it means he is Native American.”
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“‘My mom just told me that my mom, grandmother, was full-blood Cherokee,’ Walker said at the Sept. 28 event in Forsyth, Georgia. ‘So I’m Native American!’”
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“Walker has been claiming for months that he has significant Native American ancestry, saying each time that he’d just learned this news from his mom.”
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“At a January campaign event at the University of Georgia, he said he had just found out that his mother is ‘40% Native American.’”
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“He repeated his claim at four campaign events in May, as if he had just discovered it. At one, he said he just learned that his mother is ‘a big part Native American’ and it means he is ‘part Native American, too.’ At another, he said again, ‘My mom is part Native American, a big part’ and it means ‘I am ‘other’ as well.’”
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“At another, he said is ‘proud to be Black but … I may not be Black’ because he just learned ‘my mother is part Native American.’ And at still another, he said he just found out his ‘mom is a big part Native American.’”
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“At a June 20th campaign event in College Park, Georgia, Walker said he found out ‘I’m part Native American’ by doing a 23 and Me ancestry test. He said he wanted to ‘acknowledge all of my family’ referring to Native Americans.”
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“His September claim went the furthest. He said his mother had just told him his grandmother was full-blooded Cherokee.”
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“Walker hasn’t offered any evidence to back up his claims about having Native ancestry beyond saying it’s what his mother told him.”
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“Walker’s campaign, meanwhile, did not respond to a request for comment about his claims of being part Cherokee or to a request for evidence that his grandmother was full-blooded Cherokee. HuffPost also asked for the name and birth date of Walker’s grandmother, which Cherokee Nation officials could look up in their database. The campaign did not respond.”
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“So HuffPost went directly to the source of Walker’s claims: his mother, who said she has no idea if an immediate ancestor was full-blooded Cherokee.”
Read the full report here.
Published: Oct 13, 2022