President-elect Donald Trump announced he will nominate Herschel Walker, a former NFL player and failed Georgia candidate for the U.S. Senate, to serve as U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas.
Like many of Trump’s other transition picks, Walker has little to no experience for the position. In an article on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump praised the Georgia Republican as “a tireless advocate for youth sports” who has “traveled to more than 400 military installations around the world, eliminating the stigma surrounding mental health.”
Walker launched a haphazard and ultimately unsuccessful bid for Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock’s seat in Georgia in 2022. A number of damaging allegations surfaced during the campaign, including claims that he paid separately for two women have abortions and the revelation that – despite his criticism of absent black fathers – he had three children by women to whom he was not married. (Walker has denied paying for an abortion.)
Walker will join other Georgia Republicans who lost Senate elections and were tapped for positions in Trump’s second administration. Former Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who lost to Warnock in a 2020 special election, was chosen to lead the Small Business Administration, and former Sen. David Perdue, who lost his seat to Jon Ossoff in of the 2020 election, will be Trump’s nominee for United States Ambassador to China.
Walker has no clear connection to the Bahamas and little or no diplomatic experience. So far, the president-elect’s other picks for ambassadorships include Charles Kushner and Michael Boulos, the stepfathers of his two daughters; Kimberly Guilfoyle, who announced her engagement to Donald Trump Jr. in 2022; and several major donors to his campaign.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
