Herschel Walker, the GOP frontrunner in Georgia’s Senate primary, spent years claiming he was a high school valedictorian and graduated from the University of Georgia in the “top 1%” of his college class.
The ex-NFL player was lying. He wasn’t a valedictorian, and he didn’t even finish college.
Does he believe he’ll get away with such whoppers? Or does he think voters are stupid? Or just don’t care?
To explore these questions, NBC News asked a psychotherapist (here, cue joke that “all Republicans should be in therapy”). Read her essay here.
Lying comes at a high price, she says, because it destroys trust, relationships, and self-esteem. Most people, whether caught or not, feel shame and embarrassment about lying.
But not all people. Putin obviously doesn’t, and Trump doesn’t. There’s a certain personality type who lie without compunction or qualms: People “who are supremely self-involved, without empathy, controlling and often abusive … lie to increase their … power and invulnerability,” she says. Sure sounds like a couple of people we hear about. Do we really want another one like that polluting our politics?
In November, the GOP primary winner will face off against a minister. I don’t vote in Georgia, but if I did, I’d take the minister over a liar. And one whose walk is different from his talk (watch video below).
One of Walker’s primary opponents, Gary Black, sees it the same way. He says, “This is another reason Herschel Walker would lose to Warnock.”