NEWS ACROSS GEORGIA: Walker Defends Use of Swastika, Making Headlines & TV News Across The State

Herschel Walker is continuing to face a barrage of criticism after he defended the use of a swastika. Here’s some of what Georgians are reading and hearing today:

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Walker cancels fundraiser with supporter who had swastika in her Twitter profile

• Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker canceled a fundraiser with a conservative film producer who until Wednesday used a rendering of a swastika as her Twitter profile picture.

• The candidate had come under heated criticism after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported details of the fundraiser hosted by Viviano-Langlais, who long featured a set of syringes arranged in a swastika as her Twitter profile picture.

• Walker’s campaign spokeswoman early Wednesday said the swastika is “clearly an anti-mandatory vaccination graphic.”

• Democrats and other critics reacted with horror at both the swastika and the campaign’s initial reaction. The Jewish Democratic Council of America said the proud display of swastikas was “absolutely vile,” and the Jewish Democratic Women’s Salon called it “beyond unacceptable.”

• “Herschel Walker defended a swastika, and canceling a fundraiser does not change the fact that he failed to condemn a hateful, anti-Semitic symbol,” Dan Gottlieb of the Democratic Party of Georgia said in a press release.

• Walker has opposed vaccine mandates, though his own vaccination status is unknown. 

WSB TV: Herschel Walker’s campaign appears to defend supporter’s use of swastika on social media

• According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a Twitter account for a person hosting an event for Walker in Texas had an image of syringes forming a swastika as the profile picture.

• A spokesperson for the campaign said the image was not a swastika, telling the AJC, “This is clearly an anti-mandatory vaccination graphic. Herschel unequivocally opposes anti-semitism and bigotry of all kinds.”

• Walker, who is being backed by former President Donald Trump, has not commented on whether or not he has been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Fox 5 Atlanta: Herschel Walker calls off fundraiser amid supporter’s swastika controversy

• Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Herschel Walker has decided to cancel a fundraiser rally in Texas after the host appeared to post a photo of a swastika made from outlines of syringes on her Twitter profile Wednesday.

• “Herschel Walker defended a swastika and canceling a fundraiser does not change the fact that he failed to condemn a hateful, antisemitic symbol.”

CNN: Don Lemon Tonight

• Trump ally and Georgia Senate candidate is scrapping a fundraiser because the event was being hosted by a woman whose Twitter profile included a picture of a swastika made out of medical needles.

• Later, after growing outcry, the campaign put out a longer statement and Herschel Walker is saying that he’s “a strong supporter of the Jewish community and opposes bigotry in all forms.”

CBS 46: Swastika Imagery Leads to Cancelled Walker Event

• A big name senate candidate doing damage control and trying squash a political firestorm 

• Allison Padilla Goodman, Vice President of the Anti-Defamation League Southern Division, says “Comparing life-saving vaccines and vaccination policy to the genocide of Jewish people and other by the Nazis is so deeply offensive.”

11 Alive: Herschel Walker cancels fundraiser over controversy

• Senate candidate Herschel Walker has cancelled a fundraiser over a swastika controversy.

• The woman hosting this event had a swastika shaped picture on her twitter profile meant to protest the COVID-19 mandate.

• The woman has since changed her twitter profile picture.

• The Hill is reporting that the cancellation came shortly after the campaign had denied that the woman’s picture was a swastika.

• Georgia Democrats said that “Walker had failed to condemn a hateful act.”    

Daily Beast: GOP Senate Candidate Herschel Walker Defends Fundraiser’s Nazi Imagery

• Former NFL player Herschel Walker, who is running as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Georgia, canceled a weekend fundraiser Wednesday after one of the hosts used a swastika comprised of syringes as her Twitter profile picture.

• Walker’s team had initially defended the woman … “This is clearly an anti-mandatory vaccination graphic,” a spokesman for Walker said. “Herschel unequivocally opposes anti-semitism and bigotry of all kinds.”

• However, just hours later, Walker canned the event entirely.

Washington Post: Senate candidate Herschel Walker cancels fundraiser after uproar over donor’s use of vaccine-needle swastika in profile

• On Wednesday morning, a spokeswoman for Walker’s campaign defended the image as being “clearly an anti-mandatory vaccination graphic.”

• By 3 p.m. Eastern time, however, the spokeswoman said Walker would no longer be attending the event and emphasized his support for the Jewish community.

• The campaign’s walk-back was not enough for the Georgia Democratic Party, which initially accused Walker of defending the symbol “for nothing more than some campaign cash.”

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The Jolt: More fallout for Herschel Walker after swastika controversy, canceled fundraiser

• The fallout continued for Herschel Walker after his campaign canceled a fundraiser at the home of a Texas woman who once sported a swastika composed of vaccines on her social media page.

• Dov Wilker of the Atlanta chapter of the American Jewish Committee said that scrapping the event doesn’t go far enough. Jewish groups have condemned the use of the syringe swastika in protests of vaccine requirements.

• “A swastika is a symbol of hate,” Wilker said. “Walker may have canceled his fundraiser after a sponsor associated with the event displayed the antisemitic symbol proudly, but he must condemn Holocaust and COVID health policies comparisons immediately.”

• Democrats, prepping to defend U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock’s Senate seat in 2022, also slammed the GOP frontrunner.

• “Herschel Walker defended a swastika, and canceling a fundraiser does not change the fact that he failed to condemn a hateful, anti-Semitic symbol,” Dan Gottlieb of the Democratic Party of Georgia said in a press release.

• Walker didn’t address the controversy during an appearance late Wednesday on Fox News. But he did make a statement to host Sean Hannity that you don’t often hear from GOP candidates.

• “I don’t care whether you’re Democrat or Republican, I’m here to represent you,” he said. “Because everything that the Democrats want, I guarantee it is what I want. We want law and order. We want the border patrolled. We want prices to go down.”

• That led to some head scratching — in emoji form — from his main GOP rival, Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black.

Associated Press: Senate hopeful Herschel Walker cancels event over swastika

• Georgia Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker has called off a fundraiser in Texas because an organizer was displaying a swastika made of syringes in her social media profile.

• The campaign had earlier denied that the symbol was a swastika.

• Allison Padilla-Goodman, vice president of the southern division of the Anti-Defamation League, said the comparison of vaccines to Nazism has become “a common and callous tool for political gain.”

• “Those linking the atrocities committed by the Nazis to modern day public health policies must retract their shameless comparisons, take responsibility, and cease their exploitation of Jewish suffering as a political tactic,” Padilla-Goodman said in a statement. 

CNN: Herschel Walker cancels fundraiser with supporter who had swastika-shaped image in Twitter profile

• Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker has canceled a fundraiser hosted by a woman whose Twitter account featured a swastika-shaped image used to protest Covid-19 vaccine mandates.
  
• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported that Walker would attend an event in Texas this weekend hosted by Bettina Sofia Viviano-Langlais, a film producer. Her Twitter account included a profile picture of a rendering of a swastika made out of medical needles.
  
• Earlier on Wednesday, a Walker spokeswoman had defended Viviano-Langlais’ profile picture as an “anti-mandatory vaccination graphic” in a statement to the AJC.

Deadspin: When you have to say something isn’t a swastika, you have already given up the game

• The Herschel Walker campaign’s NOT A SWASTIKA statement has people asking a lot of questions already answered by the statement.

• The problem that Walker’s campaign should have been addressing is the source of his campaign funding being someone so phenomenally out of line with reality. Instead, the response of being taken aback that anyone would suggest Walker has an affiliation with Nazi values — well, that does raise a lot more questions not answered by the statement. 

Yahoo! Sports: Herschel Walker’s campaign downplays imagery before canceling fundraiser with host who had swastika on her Twitter page

• U.S. senate candidate Herschel Walker canceled a fundraiser on Wednesday after its host was exposed for using a swastika composed of hypodermic needles in her Twitter profile.Per the Journal-Constitution, a Walker spokeswoman initially downplayed the Nazi imagery.

• Georgia Democratic Party spokesperson Dan Gottlieb condemned Walker’s association with Viviano-Langlais and his campaign’s initial response. “Herschel Walker defended a swastika, and canceling a fundraiser does not change the fact that he failed to condemn a hateful, anti-Semitic symbol,” Gottlieb said, per The Hill.

Daily Kos: Herschel Walker fumbles, cancels fundraiser after pressure over host’s swastika profile pic

• Some people don’t care who hosts their fundraisers as long as the money keeps rolling in, and Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker is just one of those guys.

• When AJC asked for a comment regarding the swastika symbol on Walker’s host’s page, his camp responded with: “This is clearly an anti-mandatory vaccination graphic. Herschel unequivocally opposes anti-semitism and bigotry of all kinds.” Okay, and we don’t see the resemblance? 

• After initially denying the swastika’s Nazi affiliation and dismissing it simply as an “anti-mandatory vaccination graphic,” Walker’s spokesperson is walking back those horrifying comments. 

• “Herschel Walker is defending an indisputable symbol of genocide to millions of Jews — a swastika made out of syringes — for nothing more than some campaign cash,” Dan Gottlieb of the Democratic Party of Georgia told the AJC.

• “A swastika is a swastika,” a spokesperson from the Jewish Democratic Women’s Salon said. 

The Hill: Herschel Walker calls off fundraiser with woman who had swastika in Twitter profile

• Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker has canceled a fundraiser for his campaign that was set to be hosted by a conservative filmmaker whose Twitter profile picture was until recently a swastika made up of syringes.
  
• The cancellation came shortly after the campaign denied that the filmmaker’s Twitter picture was in fact a swastika.
  
• The campaign had been under withering criticism since earlier Wednesday after news broke of the fundraiser. Walker’s campaign earlier in the day had called the picture “clearly an anti-mandatory vaccination graphic.”

Insider: Herschel Walker nixes fundraiser with supporter who had swastika featured on Twitter profile: report

• Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker nixed a fundraiser with a conservative film producer who until recently featured an image of a swastika on her Twitter page.
  
• The event was called just off hours after the campaign argued that the symbol on the page was not a swastika, per the AJC. The symbol was “clearly an anti-mandatory vaccination graphic,” Walker’s campaign said at first.
  

Forbes: Georgia Senate Candidate Herschel Walker Reportedly Cancels Event After Backlash Over Swastika Image

• Trump-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker has called off a fundraiser set to be hosted by a conservative filmmaker this weekend, following backlash over her use of an image of syringes in the shape of a swastika for her Twitter profile picture, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in a reversal for the campaign after defending the imagery earlier Wednesday.
  
• A campaign spokeswoman earlier in the day defended the imagery, telling media it was “clearly an anti-mandatory vaccination graphic.”

New York Post: Herschel Walker cancels campaign fundraiser over swastika of syringes

• Georgia Republican US Senate hopeful Herschel Walker called off a Texas fundraiser Wednesday after an event organizer displayed a group of syringes arranged to form a swastika in her Twitter profile picture to protest vaccine mandates.
  
• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which first noted the image, reported that the Walker campaign initially described it as “clearly an anti-mandatory vaccination graphic.”
  
• “Those linking the atrocities committed by the Nazis to modern day public health policies must retract their shameless comparisons, take responsibility, and cease their exploitation of Jewish suffering as a political tactic,” Allison Padilla-Goodman, vice president of the southern division of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement.