WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: Walker False COVID-Killing “Mist” Comments Widely Panned

Yesterday, the Daily Beast reported that Trump-tapped Senate candidate Herschel Walker pushed a “snake oil body spray for COVID” to his followers, swearing by this “EPA-, FDA-approved,” “dry mist” product that — “as you walk through the door” — [would] “kill any COVID on your body.” 

Walker is still refusing to disclose whether or not he’s received the COVID-19 vaccine, but Walker’s biggest benefactor Donald Trump is now saying that politicians who won’t confirm receiving the COVID-19 shot are “gutless” and that “the vaccine saved tens of millions of people throughout the world.”

Here’s what they’re saying about Walker’s snake oil sales pitch:

WJCL (Savannah):

• Greg Coy: New tonight, Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker being questioned about comments regarding a mysterious anti-coronavirus spray. 

• Now, according to The Daily Beast, in August of 2020, Walker appeared on the conservative Glenn Beck show, Walker claiming there was a spray that would clean you of COVID. He went on to describe a “dry mist” that would kill the virus as you enter and leave the room and he said the product was FDA approved, but The Daily Beast reports no such product exists. 

• His campaign has not responded to questions about the product or Walker’s vaccination status.

MSNBC, Rachel Maddow Show:

• Rachel Maddow: What you’re about to see in here is not true. It is not real medical advice and you should not take it as such. I am showing it to you because of who was saying it. This is the leading Republican US Senate candidate from the state of Georgia, with his own amazing news about mist — mist, a dry mist — that can apparently end this whole nightmare the whole world has been going through.

• Herschel Walker: Do you know right now, I have something that can bring you into a building, that will clean you of Covid, as you walk through this, this dry mist? As you walk through the door, it will kill any COVID on your body. EPA, FDA approved. When you leave, it will kill the virus as you leave, this product. Then I have something you can go and spray down this product. Do you know, they don’t want to talk about that. They don’t want to hear about that.

Herschel Walker Promoted a Non-Existent ‘Dry Mist’ That Could ‘Kill Any Covid on Your Body’ in Resurfaced Interview

Rolling Stone, 1/12/22

• Former NFL player and current Georgia GOP Senate candidate Hershel Walker promoted a “dry mist” that promised to “kill any Covid on your body” in an interview on Glenn Beck’s podcast during the summer of 2020.

• “Do you know right now, I have something that [you can bring] into a building, that will clean you of Covid, as you walk through this, this dry mist?” Walker told Beck in August 2020, months before vaccines became available. 

• Walker then implied that the government was trying to keep the miracle spray secret from the public. “Do you know? You know they don’t wanna talk about that,” he said. “They don’t wanna hear about that.” Walker did not identify who “they” might be. It was at this point that Beck, perhaps realizing the rabbit hole Walker was going down, quickly changed the topic. 

• Currently, no known “dry spray” product exists for the human body that can stop someone from catching Covid.

• Walker has so far refused to say whether he is vaccinated against Covid-19.

Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker promoted a ‘mist’ that he claimed would ‘kill any covid on your body’

Washington Post, 1/12/22

• As the coronavirus was sweeping across the United States last summer and the country was still without a vaccine, Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker promoted a “mist” that he claimed would “kill any covid on your body.”

• Walker, who is vying to unseat freshman Sen. Raphael G. Warnock (D-Ga.) and has been endorsed by former president Donald Trump, did not name the supposed product, which he claimed during an August 2020 podcast appearance was “EPA-, FDA-approved.” The Daily Beast reported Wednesday on the interview.

• The newly-unearthed comments bring renewed scrutiny to Walker, who is already facing criticism over allegations that he threatened the lives of two women, including his ex-wife, and embellished his business record.

• “Do you know, right now, I have something that can bring you into a building that would clean you from covid as you walk through this dry mist?” Walker said during the August 2020 appearance on conservative host Glenn Beck’s podcast. “As you walk through the door, it will kill any covid on your body. EPA-, FDA-approved.”

• He continued: “When you leave, that will kill the virus, as you leave this here product. Then, I have something — you can go and spray down this product. Do you know? They don’t want to talk about that. They don’t want to hear about that.”

• Walker’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

• In the months before Walker made his remark on Beck’s podcast, Trump repeatedly touted supposed coronavirus treatments that were not only unproven but also had the potential to cause great harm.

Senate Candidate and Former Football Star Claimed to Have COVID-Killing Spray Before Vaccines Rolled Out

People, 1/13/22

• Retired NFL star-turned-Republican political candidate Herschel Walker made some unusual comments during a podcast appearance in the summer of 2020, before COVID-19 vaccines were available, about a “spray” or a “mist” to “kill” the virus that causes the disease.

• “Do you know right now, I have something that can bring you into a building, that will clean you from COVID, as you walk through this, this dry mist?” Walker asked conservative commentator and author Glenn Beck in his appearance two years ago. “As you walk through the door, it will kill any COVID on your body. EPA-, FDA-approved.”

• “When you leave, that will kill the virus, as you leave this here product,” Walker told Beck at the time. “Then, I have something — you can go and spray down this product. Do you know? They don’t want to talk about that. They don’t want to hear about that. And I’m serious.”

• There is no known mist or spray that can prevent COVID-19.

• A rep for Walker did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for a comment about his past statements.

• The former football player would not say whether he’s been vaccinated against COVID-19, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in December.

• Trump, Walker’s most important backer in the race, famously pondered the use of injecting disinfectants to kill the COVID-19 virus in April of 2020.

• “I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute,” he said. “Is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that.”

• “I’m a kid from a small town in Georgia who lived the American Dream,” Walker said then, “and I’m ready to fight to keep that dream alive for you too.”

Herschel Walker’s past comments of ‘mist that kills Covid’ amplified ahead of Georgia Senate race

The Independent, 1/12/22

• Past comments from ex-football star Herschel Walker promoting a “dry mist” that would “kill any Covid on your body” have come under renewed scrutiny ahead of his Senate campaign in Georgia.

• While the video has been publicly available online and seen at least 80,000 times on YouTube alone, the exchange with podcaster Glenn Beck began to circulate online after The Daily Beast reported on Mr Walker’s “snake oil body spray.”

• “Do you know, right now, I have something that can bring you into a building that would clean you from Covid as you walk through this dry mist? As you walk through the door, it will kill any Covid on your body. EPA-, FDA-approved,” he said.

• Mr Beck seemingly didn’t want to hear more about it either as he quickly moved the conversation along, with raised eyebrows, without any further probing into the potentially game-changing wonder-spray.

• Mr Walker did not respond to questions about the air-based prophylactic, whether he has used it personally, and if he maintains the views 17 months after originally making the comments in the early days of the pandemic.

• The party’s spokesman Dan Gottlieb, however, said in a press release Mr Walker’s “snake oil solutions for Covid-19”, among other things, have “proven he’s unfit for public office in the midst of a public health crisis.”

“From advertising snake oil solutions for COVID-19 and excusing anti-vaccine propaganda to refusing to admit if he’s been vaccinated, Herschel Walker has proven he’s unfit for public office in the midst of a public health crisis,” said Dan Gottlieb, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Georgia.

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