Fact check: False claim that Home Depot donated $1.75M to Herschel Walker

Eleanor McCrary, USA TODAY
·4 min read
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The claim: Home Depot donated $1.75 million to Senate nominee Herschel Walker

A viral Facebook post claims Herschel Walker, the former NFL player turned Republican Senate nominee for Georgia, recently received a hefty campaign contribution from a surprising source: Home Depot.

"Home Depot donated $1.75 MILLION to Hershel (sic) Walker," reads the Oct. 7 post. "They must be high, and we're going Lowes."

Walker was recently the subject of a Daily Beast report that claimed he paid for an ex-girlfriend's abortion in 2009 despite being publicly pro-life. He denied the accusation as a "flat-out lie."

The Facebook post has been shared over 300 times in less than a week.

Several viral posts have since called for a boycott of Home Depot over the purported donation.

Nathalie Jacoby, a self-proclaimed Democrat with over 235,000 Twitter followers, published a tweet on Oct. 7 that reads, "Will you join me in boycotting Home Depot for donating $1.75 MILLION to Herschel Walker’s campaign?" It accumulated over 41,000 likes in four days.

The claim isn't true, though.

While Bernard Marcus, the co-founder of Home Depot, donated $1.75 million to a PAC dedicated to supporting Walker, he left the company 20 years ago. The donation he made is not affiliated with Home Depot.

USA TODAY reached out to several users who shared the post for comment. Jacoby told USA TODAY she "now understands saying 'Home Depot' donated the $1.75 million was inaccurate," though her tweet remained online as of Oct. 13.

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Co-founder donated $1.75 million to PAC supporting Walker

Marcus, an Atlanta native, donated a total of $1.75 million to 34N22, a political action committee dedicated to supporting Walker, according to Open Secrets.

He donated $750,000 to the PAC in November 2021 and then an additional $1 million four months later in March.

But Marcus left Home Depot in 2002, nearly two decades before he made his first contribution to Walker, and the company says it had nothing to do with the donations.

"His views do not represent the company," said Sara Gorman, the senior director for corporate communications at Home Depot.

The official Home Depot Twitter account has also responded to many users who shared the claim.

"Hi, the company has not contributed to this campaign," the account said to several Twitter users on Oct. 7. "The contribution was from our co-founder Bernie Marcus, who left The Home Depot more than 20 years ago."

Home Depot PAC donations

While Home Depot has not donated directly to Walker, the Home Depot PAC has made several contributions to other PACs that support him.

The Home Depot PAC donated $90,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee amid the current election cycle. The committee recently paid for an attack ad targeting Walker's opponent, Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock.

The Home Depot PAC has also donated thousands of dollars to others PACs that support Republicans, including those affiliated with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Tennesee Sen. Marsha Blackburn and South Dakota Sen. John Thune.

Home Depot also donated money to Democrats, including a recent $15,000 contribution to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Gorman said the Home Depot PAC "supports candidates and organizations on both sides of the aisle who champion pro-business, pro-retail positions that create jobs and economic growth."

About 73% of the PACs that received donations from the Home Depot PAC are Republican, according to data from Open Secrets. Of the Senate candidates who received contributions from the PAC, 88% were Republicans. Neither Walker nor Warnock received a contribution.

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that Home Depot donated $1.75 million to Walker. Marcus, the co-founder of Home Depot, donated that amount to a PAC supporting Walker. But he left the company in 2002. Home Depot has not donated to Walker.

Our fact-check sources:

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: False claim Home Depot donated $1.75M to Herschel Walker