Herschel Walker said he's been 'held accountable' for past violence toward his ex-wife and has confronted his mental health issues as concerns emerge over his Republican candidacy for Senate in Georgia.
The Trump-backed candidate told Axios on Monday that he's 'better now than 99% of the people in America.'
'Just like I broke my leg – I put the cast on. It healed,' the former football star explained in his first major interview as a political candidate related to the allegations and his struggle with mental health.
When asked about his past marriage to Cindy Grossman and violent behavior, Walker said: 'I'm always accountable to whatever I've ever done. And that's what I tell people: I'm accountable to it.'
Walker spoke in generalities about past violence and insisted he's never broken the law.
In a 2008 interview with CNN, Grossman said Walker held a razor to her throat. She also said 'he held [a] gun to my temple and said he was going to blow my brains out.'
Walker said at the time that he didn't remember being violent toward his wife, but didn't deny his actions, citing blackouts as one of the symptoms of his personality disorder.
The football player turned politician has been open about his struggles with mental illness.
Walker has said he was diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder and struggled with his mental health during his marriage. Grossman and Walker were married from 1983–2002.
Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker says he has held himself 'accountable' for allegations of abuse against his ex-wife
Cindy Grossman (left) detailed in 2008 that Walker (right) held a razor to her throat and a 'gun to my temple and said he was going to blow my brains out'. The couple was married from 1983–2002
He told Axios on Monday that Grossman is his 'best friend'.
Walker, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, wrote a book in 2008 about his life with dissociative identity disorder.
He detailed past violent thoughts about harming himself and others. Walker also claimed he had a dozen different identities, saying some alters did good things while other alters exhibited extreme and violent behavior.
Since releasing his book, Walker has been an advocate for mental health awareness in the military and says he will expand mental health resources across health care, law enforcement and the military if elected to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate.
'Most of the things I've done after my struggles have shown people that you can get knocked down and you can get up,' he said. 'And that's what I want people to realize.'
'Don't be ashamed to address your issues,' he added.
'For a man, it's very tough. For an African American man, it's even
