For years, Georgia GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker claimed he'd graduated in the top 1% of his class at University of Georgia — but he never graduated at all

Georgia GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker claimed for years that he was the valedictorian of his class at the University of Georgia. He claimed on his website that he never received his degree in Criminal Justice.

After being confronted by reporters from the Atlanta-Journal Constitution about rumors that he hadn't completed his degree, Walker acknowledged he had lied about graduating.

Walker said in a statement released to AJC that he was majoring in Criminal Justice at UGA when he left to play in the USFL.

Walker frequently repeated the false claim that he had completed his degree in his speeches and in his author biography. He didn't correct people when they referred to his degree.

CNN reported that the degree from the University of Georgia was removed from his official website sometime between December and January.

A 1982 profile on Walker was published in The New York Times. Walker told The Chicago Tribune in 1985 that he had a 3.0 grade point average.

Walker, who is endorsed by Donald Trump, is running against the incumbent Democratic Senator in the Georgia 2022, special election.

Walker's campaign didn't respond to Insider's request for comment.