Former NFL star Herschel Walker called for unity at a time of racial unrest in America and criticized the national media for how President Trump’s response to the crisis has been covered.
“I’m upset because things are getting worse,” Walker said in a video posted to his Twitter account Tuesday. “We’re not coming together as a people.”
Walker said he has watched “terrible” news coverage of largely peaceful demonstrations protesting the police killing of George Floyd in recent days, decrying the media for “always looking for something negative to point out.”
The former running back expressed disappointment with political leaders who have been “sitting on the sidelines doing absolutely nothing” until Trump gave a speech Monday, vowing to restore order in cities across the country that have succumb to violent rioting amid the otherwise peaceful demonstrations.
“Today, I have strongly recommended to every governor to deploy the National Guard in sufficient numbers that we dominate the streets,” Trump said from the White House, adding that he was ready to have federal authorities step in if any state “refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents.”
The president’s comments were condemned by Democrats and some in the media as sounding akin to those of a dictator looking to stifle free speech and civil unrest.
“Well, he’s trying, which is what you should be doing,” Walker told Democrats upset with Trump’s rhetoric. “If you wanna be on the sidelines, sit on the sidelines, but let’s get some substitute in to try to get this fixed.”
Peaceful protests, Walker said, “should be from nine-to-five.”
Law enforcement officials in several cities have implemented nightly curfews in an attempt to separate nonviolent demonstrators from people using the unrest to cause chaos and damage property in defiance of government.
“My mom always said when things get dark, if you’re still out, you gonna be trouble,” Walker said. “If they’re not in their house at 8 o’clock, they should be arrested unless you got a very, very good excuse for being out.”
Walker complained about several major political scandals and other crises covered by news outlets over the past several months and years.
“I remember it was Russia, Russia, Russia, and then it’s impeachment, impeachment, impeachment. Now, it’s a pandemic,” he said. “Enough of this. It’s enough.”
We are better than this-let’s unite together! What we need to do is fill out our Census papers to let people know we exist & register to vote and choose people who can make a change!.@FoxNews @CNN @realDonaldTrump @MSNBC @espn pic.twitter.com/gIMra0BFt6
— Herschel Walker (@HerschelWalker) June 2, 2020
