ATLANTA — Ten rabbis in Georgia signed an open letter to Herschel Walker on Wednesday, writing that voters deserve to know where Walker stands on antisemitism, and where he stands on President Trump’s meeting last week with people who have promoted antisemitism.
Other Republican leaders are condemning that meeting. But so far, Walker isn't.
The rabbis’ letter tells Walker, “your silence is deeply troubling” because he has not spoken out against President Trump for meeting last week with white nationalist Nick Fuentes and Kanye West, now known as "Ye," who also promotes antisemitism.
Rabbi Joshua Lesser of Atlanta, who helped write the letter, told 11Alive that voters have a right to know what Walker believes.
“We need to be able to understand and to know whether this is a person who is going to be able to speak up against the most fundamental and clear forms of bigotry and hatred,” Rabbi Lesser said Wednesday.
Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp, who has campaigned for Walker during the four-week runoff period, has since condemned Trump’s dinner with antisemites and a white nationalist.
“That was a bad decision,” Kemp told CNN in an interview in his office at the State Capitol, “there’s no place for that in the Republican Party.”
Even Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is now condemning Fuentes, saying she regrets attending his conference earlier this year. Rep. Greene added she believes Trump didn’t know that Fuentes was going to be at his meeting last week.
In Georgia, GOP consultant Leo Smith said Wednesday that Walker’s silence may be good politics in the days before the Georgia’s Senate runoff votes are counted on Dec. 6.
“He's a very, very, very solidly partisan candidate,” Smith told 11Alive, “a candidate who's being chosen not because of his moral compass, but because he will vote with Republicans on most issues. So, I'm not so sure that people really do expect Herschel Walker to speak out on this Nick Fuentes issue. Herschel Walker does not have a voice in Washington, D.C. yet and when he does, I'm sure he will be pro-Israel.”
Rabbi Lesser said those who want to know now where Walker stands believe it shouldn’t be an issue for Walker just to tell them.
“It really should be so easy and commonsensical to be able to come out and say, ‘meeting with white supremacists, with white nationalists, with antisemites, Holocaust deniers is not acceptable for the top leadership of our country, and it isn't acceptable here in Georgia,’” Lesser said.
11Alive is working on reaching Walker for his comments, and as of late Wednesday night his campaign staff had not responded.