Herschel Walker orders 1,000 fake police badges as campaign fund-raising gimmick in tight Georgia Senate race

Walker’s effort is to turn a widely mocked debate moment into an unlikely positive as the race heads into the home stretch.

“Herschel Walker has been a friend to law enforcement and has a record of honoring police,” said Gail Gitcho, a Walker campaign strategist, told NBC News. “If Sen. Warnock wants to highlight this, then bring it on.”

The “I’m With Herschel” badges were not yet available for purchase on Walker’s campaign website Tuesday.

The former University of Georgia and New York Giants football star took to Twitter to show a video of him posing with Johnson County Sheriff Greg Roland.

“If Herschel’s badge is a prop, then I guess this badge I wear every day to protect the citizens — I guess it’s a prop also,” said Rowland. “But these are real badges. And I gave this to my friend for all he’s done for this country and this county.”

In an interview with NBC that aired on Monday, Walker doubled down and declared the badge as “legit.”

“This is from my hometown. This is from Johnson County, from the sheriff from Johnson County, which is a legit badge,” Walker said. “Everyone can make fun, but this badge gives me the right … if anything happened in this county, I have the right to work with the police in getting things done.”

Walker is slightly trailing Warnock in polls, although the race remains too close to call with just a few weeks remaining until the election on Nov. 8.