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VoteVets, a group that largely backs Democratic-leaning veterans in elections across the country, is out with a new ad in Georgia’s Senate race, accusing former football player Herschel Walker of preying on veterans and defrauding the government through a charity organization. Walker is the Republican nominee for Senate and will face Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in a general election this fall.
“Herschel Walker claimed he started a program to help veterans. The truth? It isn’t actually a charity at all,” the ad’s narrator says. It goes on to argue “the group misdiagnosed patients and pushed veterans into mental health facilities just to collect the insurance money.”
Walker’s involvement with the group came under scrutiny last month, when the Associated Press reported he overstated his role with Patriot Support, a for-profit group affiliated with United Health Services. UHS is now facing a civil lawsuit brought by the Justice Department and nearly two dozen states.
Walker spokeswoman Mallory Blunt criticized that AP article, accusing them of “demonizing Herschel for being the face of an organization for 14 years that has helped tens of thousands of soldiers suffering from mental illness.”
VoteVets said in a press release that their ad against Walker will air for one week and a half in Georgia and is part of a $1.5 million campaign.
The ad comes on the heels of a new ad out from Warnock this week, where he doesn't name Walker, but runs on a track and says, "If the race between me and my opponent were out here, I could understand why you might choose him.”
“But this campaign is about who’s ready to represent Georgia,” Warnock says later in the ad, pitching himself as a better option.