How Much Has Herschel Walker Given To Charity?

Make it stop.

“It” here could easily mean some of the more annoying things to happen this week, like fall arriving and giving zero fucks about anyone’s desire to not immediately turn on the heat and pull out sweaters, or my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers continuing to play with what looks like a middle school offense if that offense’s quarterback had a broken leg and the flu.

But the “it” in this case is the constant stream of alleged lies coming from Herschel Walker, the ex football star who wants to depose the Rev. Raphael Warnock for his seat in the U.S. Senate and in the process help flip control of that chamber of Congress to Republicans. I can’t count the number of stories I’ve written that includes an obligatory paragraph of links to other stories about his loose relationship with facts and history, so I’ll spare you that here and get right to the gist.

The New York Times this morning reported that Walker’s claim that his food distribution company routinely donated 15 percent of its profits to charities is a farce—or at the very least that there’s little evidence that the causes it was supposed to support ever got a dime.

For years, Mr. Walker’s company named four specific charities as beneficiaries of those donations, including the Boy Scouts of America and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

But there is scant evidence that Mr. Walker’s giving matched those promises. When The New York Times contacted those four charities, one declined to comment and the other three said they had no record or recollection of any gifts from the company in the last decade.

The Times article comes with the caveat that it’s impossible to entirely pin down whether a privately-held business like Walker’s has ever donated money to any charity at all, since neither the company or some charities are required to disclose the donations. But it also includes Walker’s reps saying that his company has given millions to charity—but not disclosing any specifics—as well as quotes from execs at specific nonprofits Walker has claimed to support who say they’ve never gotten a red cent.