'God had other plans for me': Herschel Walker talks religion, Warnock's bonafides as a pastor

U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker made a campaign stop at the Savannah Mall on Friday, where he spoke to about 200 supporters about his runoff against incumbent U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.

It was a highly religious speech from Walker, who exalted his own path, saying God has been preparing him for this race his whole life, and called himself "God's warrior" a few times. He also challenged Warnock's godliness, saying he was not worthy of being a man of the cloth, and called the sitting senator a "wolf in sheep's clothing."

"I always thought that God made me a football player, but he had other plans," Walker said.

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Aside from religious references, Walker focused on his bread-and-butter issues: support of the military, support of police, and broadly voicing his opposition to the concept of transgender people, especially in regards to trans athletes in women's sports and "putting pronouns in the military."

"We shouldn't be talking about pronouns, we should be talking about push-ups and sit-ups," Walker said.

Walker also implied his opponent was bad with money, saying the sitting senator had spent "almost $100 million against me, and it's still tied."

Walker was joined by several speakers, including Georgia House Rep. Bill Hitchens, and Georgia Sen. Billy Hickman, both fellow Republicans.

Walker arrived around 4:15 p.m. By then, the crowd had swelled to about 200 people welcoming him with applause and chanting his name at the far end of the parking lot of Savannah Mall. A few cars lined up on the roadway connecting the mall, honking frequently.

Chatham Sheriff John Wilcher also voiced his support for Walker before the rally. Wilcher said he has been criticized for his support of the former UGA football standout, and made clear that it didn't matter to him.

"Those that don't like me supporting him, well that's tough s---," Wilcher said.

Will Peebles is the City Council and County Commission reporter for Savannah Morning News, covering local Savannah and Chatham County decisions. He can be reached at wpeebles@savannahnow.com or on Twitter @willpeeblesSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Herschel Walker talks about God, military, police at Savannah rally