Herschel Walker Has Been Pushing His Bonkers Air Pollution Theory for Months
Herschel Walker, who is trying to weather a series of unflattering headlines in his bid to unseat Democrat Raphael Warnock in the Senate, isn’t a huge fan of the Green New Deal. He explained why to his supporters at a recent campaign event, offering a dubious lesson about the physics of air pollution.
“The Green New Deal, you know climate change,” Walker said. “I’m going to help you with that real quickly. … We, in America, have some of the cleanest air and cleanest water of anywhere in the world. So what we do is, we gonna put, from the Green New Deal, millions and billions of dollars cleaning our good air up.”
Walker then argued that “because we don’t control the air,” America’s “good air decided” to “float over to China’s bad air.” China’s “bad air” will then “move over to our good air space,” which would force America to “clean that back up.”
Herschel on the climate/Green New Deal/air:
“Since we don’t control the air our good air decided to float over to China’s bad air so when China gets our good air, their bad air got to move. So it moves over to our good air space. Then now we got we to clean that back up.” pic.twitter.com/BsR4GVAbX7
— stephen fowler (@stphnfwlr) July 11, 2022
It wasn’t an isolated incident. Walker has apparently been repeating this questionable environmental take along the campaign trail. Georgia’s GPB News identified more than a dozen instances where Walker included comments about China’s “bad air” coming to the United States. Indicating that Walker’s take on atmospheric pollution wasn’t a one-off gaffe, but a scripted component of his stump speeches.
Herschel in Statesboro:
"Do you know we don't control this air? No matter how much money we put in controlling our air, it goes over to China or to somewhere else, and it messes it up. All of a sudden, it comes back over here. All we're doing is spending money." pic.twitter.com/99Ky0LZLgY
— stephen fowler (@stphnfwlr) July 13, 2022
The United States is the second biggest polluter in the world after China. Walker’s The meteorological assessment, particularly the implication that atmospheres operate in the form of national masses with a sentient capacity to simply trade places, is only the latest in a string of incoherent responses Walker has given when asked about basic policy issues — and basic science.
In March, Walker questioned the science behind evolution: “At one time science said, man came from apes,” he said at a church event. “Did it not? … If that is true, why are there still apes? Think about it.”
Walker has also pushed quack Covid-19 remedies, including a “dry mist” he said could “kill any Covid on your body.” During the same event at which he explained climate change, Walker said Covid was “created by China” but “the whole world is not even talking about it.”
Walker has also been plagued by a series of embarrassing revelations regarding claims he’s made about his personal life and education. In June, reports found that Walker, who had repeatedly attacked “fatherless” homes as “a major, major problem,” has multiple children he has not disclosed publicly and which he does not see. In December, Walker admitted to having repeatedly lied about graduating from the University of Georgia.
The Heisman Trophy winner who rode Trump’s endorsement to the Republican Party’s nomination for Senate despite a total lack of qualifications will face Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock in November. Some recent polls have shown Warnock with a lead of around 10 points. Others forecast the result will be far closer.