Herschel Walker will speak at Trump rally in Georgia

Herschel Walker, the NFL-star-turned-Senate-hopeful, will speak at former President Trump’s rally in Georgia on Saturday. 

Walker will be joined by two other Georgia Republicans running for statewide office, Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.), who’s challenging Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and state Sen. Burt Jones, who’s running to replace outgoing Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan. Raffensperger and Duncan have both spoken out against Trump’s claims of election fraud.

The planned appearances will put three of Trump’s preferred candidates on the same stage as him when he travels to Perry, Ga., on Saturday. 

The former president’s leadership PAC, Save America, described the upcoming rally as “a continuation of President Trump’s many appearances in support of candidates” aligned with his brand of conservatism. He’s set to hold another rally in Iowa on Oct. 9. 

For Walker, in particular, the Trump rally will serve as something of a debut on the public campaign circuit. 

In the weeks since launching his bid to oust Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Walker has kept a relatively low profile on the campaign trail. He’s appeared at fundraisers and sat for occasional interviews with friendly media outlets, but hasn’t held a large-scale campaign rally yet.

Earlier this month, he made his first public appearance since entering the Georgia Senate race when he attended the University of Georgia’s football home opener. 

Still, Walker holds broad name recognition in Georgia from his days playing college football at the University of Georgia and his endorsement from Trump gives him an early leg up in the GOP primary to take on Warnock. 

Hice also scored an endorsement from Trump early this year after he announced his campaign to oust Raffensperger, the Republican secretary of state who drew Trump’s ire after he pushed back against the former president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.

Jones launched his campaign for lieutenant governor last month. In May, Duncan, who criticized Trump over his baseless claim that the 2020 election was rigged, announced that he would not seek reelection.