MSNBC Host Joy Reid Says Lindsey Graham Chauffeuring Herschel Walker Proves GOP Lacks Respect for Black Men

MSNBC host Joy Reid is not a fan of Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker‘s campaign surrogates appearing with him, claiming it proves Republicans don’t respect Black men.

Mediaite reported that Walker has been making the rounds to give his final pitch to Peach State voters before Tuesday’s Georgia Senate runoff. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham has sat alongside Walker during most of those appearances, which Reid and Democratic strategist LaTosha Brown find “insulting.”

“Black people are upset,” Brown said, according to Mediaite. “They feel insulted. They feel insulted that here the Republicans would actually pick a candidate and because he was a ballplayer, that in some way, and if they planted this narrative that Black men were not going to vote and are upset with the Democratic Party, that those two things would be enough for us to be fooled.”

Brown added Black voters are too “sophisticated” to be wowed by a former athlete, adding that Walker’s campaign is “racist,” which Reid responded to by saying Graham is “walking” the former running back around.

“I have heard this from a lot of Black men even if they’re not in Georgia,” Reid said. “There’s a certain disrespect that a lot of Black men, in particular, feel about particularly the way that Walker has been walked around by people like Lindsey Graham and sort of used and put forward. They don’t seem to respect him, and they don’t seem to respect Black people.”

Many have criticized the candidacy of Walker, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, including Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, who said in an interview with CBS that Walker was the wrong choice for the Republican Party.

“This wasn’t the right brand for Republicanism. I think Herschel Walker will probably go down as one of the worst candidates in our party’s history,” Duncan said, according to People.

One of the reasons Graham might be touring with Walker is because of the numerous times the former running back has put his foot in his mouth, including recently, when he compared werewolves to vampires.

According to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, early voting in the Georgia runoff has broken two single-day voting records in a week as more than 1.85 million residents have voted early.