Conservative social media personality Christian Walker—the adult son of football star turned Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker—has objected to being called a grifter.
But at the ripe old age of 22, Christian Walker has found a way to use foreign-made political swag to profit off his father’s Senate campaign.
For months, Christian, an aspiring right-wing influencer and self-described “free-speech radicalist,” has been slinging campaign-themed merch through a dedicated “Herschel ’22” page on his Official Christian Walker website.
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The products include T-shirts and hoodies adorned with campaign rallying cries, including “Herschel Walker ’22: All American”—a nod to his father’s legendary football prowess—along with “Touchdown in the Senate — #herschelforsenate” and “I’m running with Herschel.” (T-shirts run $20 and $29.99; hoodies command $49.99.)
The webstore also sells campaign stickers for $6.99 a three-pack, which include “Herschel 2022,” “GA Backs Herschel” (another pun off Herschel’s career as a running back), and, again, “I’m running with Herschel.”
Additionally, The Daily Beast reviewed images showing that at least some of Walker’s political apparel is manufactured overseas, including the “All American” tee (made in India), and a T-shirt that endorses an anti-immigration posture towards Latin America—“I like my walls how I like my women: THICK”—that was made in Nicaragua. A tumbler declaring “I won’t apologize for loving America!” was also apparently made in China.
True to form, during Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, Christian Walker—whose various social media accounts have a combined 800,000 followers—mocked Democrats for alleged hypocrisy related to sending American jobs abroad.
“Democrats chanting ‘USA’ after they sent our jobs and manufacturing overseas LOLLLLLLLLLL,” Walker wrote to his 200,000 Twitter followers.
There isn’t anything explicitly illegal about Christian Walker’s operation. His products don’t appear to cop any legally protected language or imagery, and the site doesn’t claim that sales will benefit the campaign—though it doesn’t say they won’t, either.
But while none of the phrases explicitly overlap with official Team Herschel swag, they go right up to the edge. For instance, Christian’s “I’m running with Herschel” apparel is very similar to the campaign store’s yard signs and hats blaring “Run Herschel Run.” (The red-and-white headgear also carries an unmistakable MAGA flair.)
But this is not the first time a hoodie would put the political spotlight on the would-be “face of Gen-Z conservatism.” In December, Walker caught flack for an Instagram post where he ranted about “divisive” gas prices—”to my bank account!”—while filling up his Land Rover with premium gas in a $1,295 Givenchy hoodie.
In response to the viral criticism, Walker wrote that “Democrats care more about my sweatshirts” than politics.
Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time a Republican entrepreneur got caught in hypocritical claims about American manufacturing.
While Christian Walker’s webstore doesn’t appear to claim that his products are made in the United States, it does say the business is “American owned and operated.” (Christian is a Texas resident, like his father, who has pledged to move to Georgia, where he’s running for office—but only if he wins the Republican primary.)
Still, Christian Walker’s anti-immigration rhetoric, which often centers on American jobs, appears directly at odds with his own business decisions.
This of course echoes ex-President Donald Trump, one of Christian Walker’s heroes and among the most brazen hypocrites when it comes to the subject of foreign trade.
In October 2020, Christian praised Trump for an attempted jab at Joe Biden in their final debate before the election.
“I don’t make money from china, YOU DO,” he tweeted, quoting the real estate mogul, whose family has made millions of dollars doing business with China.
“YASSSSSS TRUMP,” Christian cheered.
His father, however, has felt pressure to re-evaluate his own immigration policies, which have been more forgiving than the MAGA party line.
Herschel Walker has spoken out against mass deportation, and backed a path to citizenship—both positions at odds with his old friend, Trump. However, the first-time candidate has supported building a wall on the country’s southern border with Mexico.
While both Walker men have embraced Trump’s far-right “America First” rhetoric, only the elder has acknowledged limits. This week, Herschel Walker backed out of an appearance with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) after she spoke at a white nationalist event. And in October, he canceled a fundraiser hosted by a donor who had posted an image of syringes in the shape of a swastika.
But Christian continues to punch back, going after fellow University of California Los Angeles students who reported him for “hateful” rhetoric.
In response, the school issued a statement saying it was aware of Christian’s “hurtful language,” and that it instead “[encourages] our students to exercise their rights in a way that is principled, thoughtful, and respectful.”
But Christian—who has said “illegals” don’t belong in the country and blamed universities for weaving a fantasy of white supremacy—responded that he didn’t share what he called UCLA’s “communistic totalitarian leftist politics,” declaring he was not hateful, but “truthful.”
In addition to right-wing animus, entrepreneurship also appears to run in the Walker family. Herschel Walker has run businesses—though not always successfully—and at the height of 2020’s second wave of the pandemic, hawked a snake-oil “dry mist” that he said would “kill any COVID on your body.”
Back in 2014, Christian Walker praised his dad’s shamelessness.
In a tweet, Christian wrote that his father had said, “Stop hating on miley cyrus, if I could make money twerking and sticking my tongue out, id be twerking and sticking my tongue out.”
He attributed the line to “dad,” punctuated with a “😂.”
