Anyone who would vote for U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker is “stupid” and akin to “the slave Negroes” who used to live in the state of Georgia, said Pastor Jamal Bryant in his sermon Sunday. Bryant leads New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in the Atlanta area, and a clip of the sermon in which he lambasted Walker has gone viral on Twitter.
“They thought we were so slow, that we were so stupid that we would elect the lowest caricature of a stereotypical, broken Black man, as opposed to somebody who is educated and erudite and focused,” said Bryant in a sermon titled, “I Don’t Need a Walker” that was streamed on Oct. 30. “Ya’ll ain’t ready for me today.”
Stop what you’re doing and watch this complete takedown of @HerschelWalker by pastor @jamalhbryant. #WeDontNeedAWalker pic.twitter.com/TOGnFxliLe
— Quentin James (@QJames) October 30, 2022
Jamal Bryant: ‘We Don’t Need a Walker’
Herschel Walker is a former NFL player and the Trump-backed Republican candidate running for a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia. His opponent is Sen. Raphael Warnock, who is pro-choice and senior pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.
The race is a key one as the Senate at this time contains 50 Republicans, 48 Democrats and two Independents. Vice President Kamala Harris casts the tie-breaking vote if necessary, but a victory for Walker would mean the Republicans would take the majority. Walker has come down hard against abortion and has said he would support federal legislation proposed by South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham banning abortion after 15 weeks.
On Oct. 3, The Daily Beast broke a story alleging that Walker paid for a former girlfriend to have an abortion. The news prompted Walker’s son, Christian, to post a series of tweets denouncing his father and challenging “family values people” who support Walker. “I know my mom and I would really appreciate if my father Herschel Walker stopped lying and making a mockery of us,” said Christian the evening the report came out. “You’re not a ‘family man’ when you left us to bang a bunch of women, threatened to kill us, and had us move over 6 times in 6 months running from your violence.”
Walker denied the woman’s allegation “in the strongest possible terms,” saying he would sue The Daily Beast for defamation the next day, but it does not appear that he has done so as of this writing. Since then, a second woman has come forward saying that Walker also pressured her into having an abortion, an allegation Walker also denies.
Dr. Jamal Bryant, who took over leadership of New Birth in 2018, opened his sermon with gratitude to God for bringing the congregation through COVID-19-related challenges, praise for educators, and exhortation to church members to “sow back” God’s blessings through tithing. Believers will not get to “the next level” when they owe God “seed” because they haven’t tithed, said Bryant, using language common among prosperity gospel preachers.
After a baby dedication, prayer and a performance from the gospel choir from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Bryant delivered his sermon, taking as his text 2 Samuel 9:3, which says, “The king [David] asked, ‘Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?’ Ziba answered the king, ‘There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.’”
