Herschel Walker's NBC News interview: On the issues
Walker's almost hour-long interview touched on a host of policy issues, as well as key flashpoints in the race.
Walker said he no longer struggles with Dissociative Identity Disorder, a mental illness he's spoken and written about having in the past, comparing his recovery to moving houses.
"Everybody wants to talk about a house I used to live in. I don’t live there no more," he said.
Walker's ex-wife had previously accused him of threatening to kill her more than a decade ago, something Walker says he doesn't remember. Another former partner claimed he threatened her, according to a 2012 police report — Walker's campaign spokeswoman told the Atlanta Journal Constitution "Herschel emphatically denies these false claims," adding that they were "baseless allegations" being used for "political mudslinging."
When asked about those allegations, as well as newer allegations of violence by one of his sons, Christian, in a social media video, Walker deflected by saying he loves his family, that he and his ex-wife remain friends and criticizing his opponent, Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock over an allegation from an ex-wife that he ran over her foot (Warnock denies that allegation).
"I love my son Christian, I love my whole family. I will always love them," he said.
"What I wrote about is in my book, I've been very open in my book ... So I move on with my campaign to win this election."
Crime has become a major issue in the race, like in many other Senate races this cycle. When asked what he'd specifically support to address crime, Walker remained vague.
"It's got to be something dealing with supporting our men and women in blue," he said.
Walker went on to criticize opponents of cash bail and decisions to release some prisoners early.
When pressed, he added that "certain chokeholds probably need to be banned" for police officers to use, but said the focus on police reform shouldn't be the lens through which this issue is viewed.
"Police is not the problem," he said.
"But let's first get down to the root of the problem. The root of the problem is leaders in Washington have shown disrespect for the police. So now recruitment is down, now their morale is down, and that's a problem."
Asked if he can name one thing that President Biden's done that he supports, Walker replies "He eats a lot of ice cream."
Despite a lengthy back and forth, Walker couldn't come up with an answer to the question: "I'm sorry to tell you, there, I may have to think about it because it seems like since he's gotten into office, everything is going down the drain."
He didn't name a policy area where he'd work with Democrats either, when asked, instead saying that he would be a "unifier."
During a round-robin on foreign policy, Walker said he would not approve sending American troops to Ukraine and repeated that he supports “making our military strong.”
He said he would want to sit on the Agriculture Committee if elected because “that’s a huge industry here in Georgia.”
