WASHINGTON — Herschel Walker has been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to serve in a position in the next administration.
Walker, a former Heisman winner at the University of Georgia in 1980 and later turned politician who ran against Sen. Raphael Warnock in the 2022 midterms, was nominated to be the United States Ambassador to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.
He served on Trump's first administration as co-chair of the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. A statement from the Trump campaign said that Walker traveled to more than 400 military installations around the world to help remove the stigma around mental health. He also represented the U.S. at the 1992 Winter Olympics as a member of the U.S. bobsled team.
"Herschel has spent decades serving as an Ambassador to our Nation’s youth, our men and women in the Military, and athletes at home and abroad," Trump said in a statement.
Walker and Warnock went to a runoff during the 2022 midterm election, as Warnock received 49.4% of the vote compared to Walker's 48.5%. In the runoff a few short weeks later, Warnock garnered 51.4% of the vote, while Walker lost with 48.6%.
Despite losing the election, he earned an endorsement from future President-elect Trump in 2021, an endorsement he later paid back to Trump at a rally in Macon just days before the 2024 presidential election.
The former UGA running back and football legend also graduated from his alma mater last week, receiving his degree while hitting the Heisman pose while walking across the stage.