Trump taps Georgia football legend, former Senate candidate Herschel Walker as US ambassador to Bahamas

Then-Senate candidate Herschel Walker at a rally in Kennesaw, Ga. in December 2022. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

Herschel Walker, the football legend who unsuccessfully ran for a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia, has been chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to be ambassador to the Bahamas.

Trump made the announcement Tuesday in a post on Truth Social, his social media website. He described Walker as “a successful businessman, philanthropist, former Heisman Trophy winner.”

Walker, a Republican, tried to unseat Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock two years ago with Trump’s endorsement. Walker benefited during the campaign from nearly unmatched name recognition from his football career at the University of Georgia and in the NFL. But he fell short in his efforts, unable to overcome a bevy of damaging allegations, including claims that he paid for two former girlfriends’ abortions despite supporting a national ban on the procedure.