Former President Donald Trump will hold a virtual rally on Monday for Republican Herschel Walker to urge his conservative base to return to the polls for Tuesday’s runoff, according to a senior Republican official.
State Republicans pleaded with Trump not to hold an in-person rally ahead of the November midterm and Tuesday’s runoff, armed with polling data showing that the former president could do more harm than good.
But as U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock built what Republicans see as a daunting early-voting edge, Walker’s campaign accepted Trump’s last-minute intervention.
Their relationship dates to the early 1980s, when Trump’s short-lived pro football team signed Walker. The two have remained close, and Trump endorsed Walker even before he entered the Senate race last year, calling him an “unstoppable” political force.
Following an election eve-rally at Georgia Tech, Warnock told reporters that the virtual event underscored Walker’s relationship with Trump, even with Trump not physically present.
“Whether he comes or not, we know that [Walker] is Donald Trump’s hand-picked candidate and that he was recruited by Donald Trump and has come to Georgia from Texas, trying to represent Georgia while still getting his homestead exemption from Texas,” Warnock said.
“The people of Georgia deserve a Senator who is going to work for the people of Georgia and not any former president or current president.”
