Georgia’s outgoing lieutenant governor Geoff Duncan has lashed out at Herschel Walker, calling the scandal-plagued Republican candidate backed by former president Donald Trump as one of the worst contenders in the party’s history.
“I’m a conservative. I’m a conservative because I feel like it’s the best way to govern. I’ve been a Republican a lot longer than a lot of folks,” Mr Duncan said to CBS News.
“I think I’ve got kids probably that could articulate the conservative platform better than some of the candidates that Donald Trump and his group supported all across the country.
“This wasn’t the right brand for Republicanism and I think Herschel Walker will probably go down as one of the worst candidates in our party’s history.”
Mr Walker is one of the most closely watched and widely mocked candidates in the Senate runoff election in Georgia.
While the Georgia Republican has espoused staunchly anti-abortion views, multiple former partners have accused him of encouraging them to get abortions, something he has denied.
Earlier this week, a new recording emerged that raised questions on his residency as the clip had him saying he lived in Texas.
One of the women who accused Mr Walker of presurring her to get an abortion played audio of him when he was in the 1992 Olympics.
“This is your stud farm calling, you big sex puppy,” he said in the voice message.
He has also been mocked for his rambling campaign speeches, including one in which he started talking about werewolves and vampires. One of the takedowns was by former president Barack Obama.
Last month, he accidentally said the word “erection” instead of “election”.
The Georgia Senate runoff is set to take place on 6 December.
Mr Walker earned 48.5 per cent of the vote compared to his challenger, incumbent senator Raphael Warnock’s 49.4 per cent in the general election, which forced the 6 December 6 runoff.
Last week, Mr Duncan told CNN that he just couldn’t cast a ballot for Mr Walker.
“I was one of those folks who got in line and spent about an hour waiting, and it was the most disappointing ballot I’ve ever stared at in my entire life since I started voting,” he said.
“I had two candidates that I just couldn’t find anything that made sense to put my vote behind. So I walked out of that ballot box, showing up to vote but not voting for either one of them.”
Mr Duncan, who did not run for re-election, will be succeeded by Republican Burt Jones in January.
