Providing further evidence that evangelical Christian voters no longer care about some moral failures as disqualifying, those attending the Faith and Freedom Coalition gathering in Nashville June 18 applauded Herschel Walker, despite recent revelations that he fathered three children not previously disclosed.
The same evangelical Christians skewered former President Bill Clinton for alleged extramarital affairs and for a sexual dalliance with a White House intern. But in 2016 and 2020, they largely turned a blind eye to the many known affairs of the thrice-married Donald Trump — and to his crude comments about women.
That tradition continued in Nashville at the annual gathering of evangelical Christian activists led by Ralph Reed, founder of the Christian Coalition in the 1990s.
“The half-full room of conference-goers at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual gathering in Nashville went wild for Walker — perhaps the most high-profile Republican Senate candidate this cycle running in one of the most contested races,” reported Politico.
Walker, a former NFL player, is running for the U.S. Senate in Georgia, hoping to unseat first-term incumbent Raphael Warnock, pastor of Martin Luther King’s former church in Atlanta.
Although the race pits two high-profile Black men against each other, the candidates couldn’t be more different in outlook or agenda. Warnock is a traditional Democrat with significant support from the Black church. Walker is a Trump-endorsed conservative Republican who supports conspiracy theories.
“The reception Walker received at the conference is an early indication that self-identified religious conservatives will give him a pass for a biographical detail at odds with their stated mission.”
Politico reported: “The reception Walker received at the conference is an early indication that self-identified religious conservatives will give him a pass for a biographical detail at odds with their stated mission. The former Heisman winner stands accused of hiding from the public three children that he had with multiple women outside of marriage. And both Walker and his oldest son, Christian Walker, have been critical of absent fathers. The Daily Beast reported that at least one of the mothers of Walker’s unacknowledged children had to take legal action to receive child support payments.”
Not only have conservative evangelicals been on record promoting the sanctity of marriage and the desirability of two-parent families, they have especially castigated Black men as deadbeat fathers contributing to the welfare state by not supporting their children.
Publicity for Herschel Walker’s appearance at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference.
In a public dialogue between Walker and Reed, Reed said “Democrats and the media” have been “firing artillery” at Walker, who has been found to exaggerate other stories and to present as fact things that are demonstrably not true.
“They didn’t do anything but make me want to fight harder, because I’m tired of people misleading the American people,” Walker replied. “I’m tired of people misleading my family.”
As if to underline the current disconnect between evangelical Christian voters and the morality they once sought to enforce, Politico quoted Atlanta resident Paulina Macfoy saying that “Jesus Christ will answer” for the morality of Walker’s life and family. She told Politico she believes Walker is a “good candidate” because he “stands for family” and said it was a “waste of time” to report on his personal life. “He who is without sin, cast the first stone.”
The information reported by Politico also was independently reported by the Daily Best, the Nashville Tennessean, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other national media.
Walker handily won the Republican primary in Georgia, despite amassing a record of misleading statements and untruths and despite being diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, previously known as multiple personality disorder.
Walker handily won the Republican primary in Georgia, despite amassing a record of misleading statements and untruths.
He lied about graduating from the University of Georgia when in reality he left after his junior year.
He lied by claiming he was a member of law enforcement in Cobb County, Ga., and trained with the FBI. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found no evidence this was true, and the Cobb County Police Department said it “had no record of involvement with Walker.”
He lied by claiming Trump never said the 2020 election was stolen: “I don’t know whether President Trump ever said that, because he never said that to me.”
Georgia has become a pivotal battleground for control of the U.S. Senate, making the race between Walker and Warnock one of the most watched in the nation.
Georgia already is home to one of the most flamboyant and controversial members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Marjorie Taylor Greene.
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