Herschel Walker Cancels Fundraiser Over Donor’s Swastika Profile Pic

Former NFL star Herschel Walker, who is currently running for Senate in Georgia, canceled a fundraiser with a donor over her use of a swastika as her Twitter profile image.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the donor, conservative filmmaker Bettina Sofia Viviano-Langlais, had as her profile picture an image that appeared to be syringes arranged in the shape of a swastika.

Spokeswoman for Trump-endorsed Senate candidate Herschel Walker: This is not a swastika. "This is clearly an anti-mandatory vaccination graphic."

The graphic: pic.twitter.com/KcseAf99DT

— Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) October 13, 2021

A spokesperson for Walker’s campaign initially told the Journal-Constitution that the image was “clearly an anti-vaccination graphic”; later in the day, the campaign told the newspaper that the fundraiser with Viviano-Langlais has been canceled.

“Despite the fact that the apparent intent behind the graphic was to condemn government vaccine mandates, the symbol used is very offensive and does not reflect the values of Herschel Walker or his campaign,” the campaign told the Journal-Constitution. They also referred to Walker as “a strong friend of Israel and the Jewish community.”

Viviano-Langlais has since removed the image from her Twitter profile; she posted to social media that the image was conveying “what happens when fascists demand people insert foreign material into their body they don’t want” and was not meant to promote antisemitism.

Anti-Defamation League Southeast tweeted, “Comparing vaccine policies to the genocide committed by the Nazis is deeply offensive — it’s become a common and callous tool for political gain. We’re glad to see the fundraiser was canceled, and the behaviors of the host were denounced as offensive.”

Comparing vaccine policies to the genocide committed by the Nazis is deeply offensive — it’s become a common and callous tool for political gain.

We’re glad to see the fundraiser was canceled, and the behaviors of the host were denounced as offensive. https://t.co/PgIAhnyX9X

— ADL Southeast (@ADLSoutheast) October 13, 2021

The American Jewish Committee similarly tweeted, “A swastika is a symbol of hate. After @HerschelWalker canceled a fundraiser sponsored by an individual who proudly displayed the antisemitic symbol, he must now clearly condemn comparisons between the Holocaust and COVID health policies.”

https://twitter.com/AJCGlobal/status/1448426424818442243?s=20

Dan Gottlieb, spokesperson for the Georgia Democratic Party, issued a statement saying that “canceling a fundraiser does not change the fact that he failed to condemn a hateful, anti-Semitic symbol.”

Walker is running against incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA); the polls show a close race between the two.