On Tuesday, Senate Republicansconfirmed former NFL player Herschel Walker as the U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas, ignoring his history of lying, weird statements, and multiple accusations of domestic abuse.
Theconfirmation vote succeeded on a party line basis, with a group of nominations, including Walker’s, receiving 51 votes in favor and 47 opposed. No Democrats supported Walker.
He’s the first ambassador to the Bahamas in 15 years due to a series of stalled nominations in the Senate across multiple presidential administrations, rather than any diplomatic issue with the Bahamas itself.
Walker’s appointment comes three yearsafter he lost the U.S. Senate race in Georgia to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in 2022. Walker was President Donald Trump’s handpicked candidate for the race, which attracted national attention.
Walker’s candidacy was a disaster, with his claims generating headlines for days on end.In one memorable exchange on the trail, Walker rambled on about being a supernatural being.
“I don’t know if you know, but vampires are some cool people, are they not? But let me tell you something that I found out: a werewolf can kill a vampire. Did you know that? I never knew that. So, I don’t want to be a vampire anymore. I want to be a werewolf,” he said.
At another point in the campaign,Walker pulled out a purported law enforcement badge while debating Warnock. But the badge turned out to be an honorary badge given to him by a local sheriff’s office.
Walker also claimed during the race that he worked in law enforcement as an “agent,” and that he spent time at the FBI training academy as part of that experience, butthis was a complete lie.
It wasalso revealed during that cycle that Walker was a promoter of pro-Trump election conspiracy theories. Walker pushed falsehoods alleging that “serious election fraud” had occurred and that former President Joe Biden had not legitimately defeated Trump in 2020.
Walker has been accused of multiple instances of domestic abuse.
Cheryl Parsa said she was Walker’s girlfriend for five years and during that timehe abused her. She said that in a 2005 argument, Walker grabbed her by her throat, held her against a wall, and tried to punch her but punched the wall instead.
“He told me, you want to see a man, I'll show you a man,” Parsa told NBC News.
Walker’s ex-wife Cindy Grossmansimilarly accused him of abuse. In her 2001 divorce petition Grossman cited Walker’s “physically abusive and extremely threatening behavior.” She also revealed in a 2005 interview that in one incident Walker held a gun to her head and said, “I’m going to blow your f’ing brains out.”
Grossman’s sister also said that Walker threatened to “shoot my sister Cindy and her boyfriend in the head.”
Trumpis a misogynist who has for years expressed delight at mistreating and manhandling women. Walker is a figure who he has been friends with for years and Trump clearly has no problem with his lying, off-the wall rhetoric, and most seriously, the allegations of abuse.
Senate Republicans, Trump’s close allies, just made a man like Walker an official representative of America to the world.