To combat the news that he paid for a girlfriend’s abortion, conservative Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker has launched what’s been called a “religious counterattack,” shielding himself with a Christian prayer group and a public assertion that he’s “been redeemed” while also maintaining that the woman is lying.
But court records reveal that, in 2007, when a Georgia family appealed to Walker’s Christianity by asking him not to sue their restaurant, Walker still went forward with the legal proceedings.
The records detail a quiet fight in federal court 15 years ago where Walker filed a lawsuit to stop a World War II veteran with his same name running a restaurant on the western outskirts of Savannah.
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The former football star now running for Congress had a line of frozen foods—and he maintained that his trademark was threatened by the existence of a new restaurant being opened by 84-year-old Herschel Earl Walker, his son and grandson. It was called “Herschel Walker’s Smokehouse & Pizzeria.”
The football star player wasn’t having it.
The famous Walker had his attorneys at Greenberg Traurig, one of the largest law firms in the country, send the family a cease-and-desist letter demanding that they stop using their grandfather’s name—and turn over any profits they made at the restaurant. They cited the family barbecue joint’s decision to sell “foods which are highly similar to Mr. Walker's food products,” such as “wings, ribs and chicken.” They had 10 days to comply.
Walker sued the next month in January 2007, filing a nine-count complaint citing unjust enrichment and unfair competition.
Meanwhile, the family—which didn’t even spend money on a lawyer for themselves—wrote back a letter pleading for mercy.
“Our Herschel Walker is now 84 years old and a veteran of World War II having served in both North Africa and in Europe during World War II. Now he is told that he can’t even use his own name on his own restaurant. What kind of Justice is this? Is this what he fought for during World War II? We hope not,” they wrote.
“Our entire family have always been great fans of Herschel’s. We have followed his career from Johnson County High School [in] Wrightsville, Ga. to the University of Ga. and throughout his professional football career. We are still interested in Herschel and believe him to be a great Christian athlete. Our Herschel Walker is also a Christian. Therefore, they are brothers in Christ,” they continued.
All three men seemed convinced they could change the football star’s mind—if only he would read their letter.
“If we are forced to take down the Herschel Walker signs we don’t have the money to replace them, the signs cost $4,000.00 which is a great deal of money for us. If Herschel wants us to remove the signs it will cause a great hardship. We have only one request that Herschel read and somehow let us know that he has read our response,” they wrote.
The letter was signed by Hershel Earl Walker, his son John Walker, and the grandson David Timothy Walker.
The entreaty failed.
Less than a month later, the family agreed to stop using their grandfather’s name in any way. A federal judge issued an order granting the football star “valid, exclusive and enforceable rights” to the term “Herschel Walker.” The family was “immediately, permanently and perpetually restrained and enjoined” from using the name in their business again.
The Daily Beast could not find Georgia business records for the family operation, which appears to have ceased to exist shortly thereafter. The building where it was once listed has been torn down and replaced by a four-story hotel.
Herschel Walker the World War II veteran died in 2018 at 95 years old. John and David Walker did not respond to calls and messages on Tuesday. A woman claiming to be related to David Walker said he declined to comment.
The Walker campaign declined to comment for this story.
The highly competitive political fight over a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia pits Walker, who has made his Christianity a central focus of his campaign, against the incumbent, Rev. Raphael Warnock, an actual pastor at Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church that was once the home of Martin Luther King Jr.
The battle is putting into focus the way Evangelicals continue to be loyal to the Republican Party by making exceptions for candidates whose real-life actions clearly violate core tenets of their religious values, a phenomenon that seemingly hinges on the Protestant belief that all sins can be washed away through a commitment to Jesus Christ.
The former football star has played that up during his run for office, visiting megachurches and getting interviewed by pastors to deliver a testimony of his difficult childhood and passion for the religion.
“I’m standing here because I know the Lord Jesus Christ is real,” he told televangelist Jentezen Franklin in Gainesville, Georgia before a crowd of hundreds in January.
Two months later, he visited the Sugarhill Church in Georgia to cast doubt on the proven science behind evolution, asking questions like, “At one time, science said man came from apes… if that is true, why are there still apes? Think about it.”
“When you believe in Christ you’re going to do what’s right,” he said in April at the Rock Springs Church, where he talked about a recent visit to the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.
He’s clinging even more to that image now that The Daily Beast has exposed how Walker has a secret second son, other neglected kids, and lied to his own campaign about it.
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision to strip women of abortion rights and Walker’s adamant stance against any such medical procedures whatsoever, The Daily Beast exposed that Walker once actually paid for his girlfriend’s abortion. After he denied even knowing who the woman could be, the woman agreed to publicly disclose that Walker also had a child with her. Against all odds, Walker maintained that he still didn’t know who the woman was, the same day his wife reached out this woman.
Last week, Walker appeared on Fox News to push forward the narrative he’s above these attacks, because he’s a saved follower of Christ.
“You know, I’ve been redeemed… they’re trying to bring up my past to hurt me,” he said. “I love the Lord Jesus, and I got into this race because of my faith, because I see what’s happening.”
Roger Sollenberger contributed reporting for this story.
