After Canceling MTG Rally Appearance Amid Public Backlash, Will Walker Reject Taylor Greene’s Endorsement?

Today, amid increasing public backlash, Herschel Walker canceled his upcoming appearance at a rally hosted by Marjorie Taylor Greene — one of Walker’s earliest, most emphatic endorsers — after Greene came under scrutiny for appearing with Holocaust deniers, Putin apologists, and January 6th supporters at a white nationalist conference last Saturday. 

But Walker, who maintains “deep financial ties” to Greene, has some major questions left to answer as he tries to distance himself from the latest controversy:

• Will Walker denounce Greene, like his GOP rivals?

• Will Walker reject Greene’s endorsement of his campaign?

• Will Walker return the thousands of dollars Greene contributed to his campaign?

This is not the only time Walker has had to pull out of an event last minute due to backlash around his associates, and their anti-semitic gestures, since announcing his candidacy. In October, Walker defended a Nazi image — a swastika made out of syringes — as “clearly an anti-mandatory vaccination graphic,” before massive public outrage forced him to backpedal and cancel a fundraising event with the donor who posted that image.

Read more on Walker’s latest controversy below:

Walker pulls out of Marjorie Greene event after she spoke at pro-Putin rally

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 3/1/22

• Senate candidate Herschel Walker pulled out of a weekend event organized by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene after she attended a white nationalist rally where attendees cheered Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and chanted Vladimir Putin’s name.

• Walker had planned to speak at Greene’s “Second Amendment and Freedom Rally” in Rome on Saturday alongside U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, strategist Stephen Bannon and other far-right figures.

• But his campaign told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday that he will no longer participate in the rally, which was to promote a gun rights expansion in Georgia.

• Other Republicans, including former U.S. Sen. David Perdue, said they still plan to attend.

• Walker’s decision is just the latest sign that Republicans in Georgia and across the nation are distancing themselves from Greene, who has a long history of hateful, xenophobic and anti-Semitic remarks, along with social media posts endorsing violence against political opponents.

• House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other top Republican figures have condemned her decision to speak at the America First Political Action Conference, a group organized by white nationalist Nick Fuentes.

• McConnell, who endorsed Walker, said “there’s no place in the Republican Party for white supremacists or anti-Semitism,” though he didn’t single out Greene or Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar, who also addressed the rally.

• In the Georgia Senate, several GOP politicians joined the chorus condemning Greene. State Sen. Russ Goodman said it was “unfathomable” to hear Americans celebrate Russia’s invasion of a U.S. ally. And Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan drew bipartisan applause for his response.

• “Vladimir Putin is a selfish, brutal dictator and anybody who would tell you otherwise is lying,” he said. “I call on this country, I call on this state, I call on this chamber to stand in support of the Ukrainian country as they fight for freedom.”

• And Walker’s top Republican rival, Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, said in an interview that Greene should be treated as a pariah.

• “Her ideas, her associations and her utter lack of wisdom and judgment are a poison in the bloodstream of our party,” said Black. “I believe this behavior is a distraction and an embarrassment.”

Read more on the extensive ties between Walker and Marjorie Taylor Greene here.

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