Former Rep. Mark Walker Joins Trump Campaign

Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.) speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 18, 2019. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo

Former North Carolina Rep. and pastor Mark Walker has joined the Trump campaign to lead its outreach to faith and minority communities.

Mr. Walker had been in contact with former President Donald Trump, and this role could lead to a position in the White House, were the former president to win in November, The Epoch Times has learned.

President Trump, who clinched the GOP presidential nomination on March 12, called Mr. Walker on the same day to offer him the outreach role, said the former congressman in a March 14 statement.

“My heart is to see all Americans succeed, as evidenced by my work in Congress with HBCUs along with minority and evangelical initiatives,” said Mr. Walker, who served in Congress from January 2015 to January 2021.

“As a Christian and former pastor, I look forward to working with faith leaders across the country to promote families, liberty, and opportunities for people and places long forgotten by Democrats,” he added.

Mr. Walker also said that he and President Trump “discussed the faith community and know it is America’s foundation and vital to our nation’s healing.”

President Trump announced the campaign move in a post on Truth Social, his social media site. He said that Mr. Walker is “very well suited for this important work. As a former Pastor, Mark is respected across the Evangelical Communities, and lived out his Faith in Congress.

“Mark and I had many Wins together, and we look forward to continuing to build bridges to all Communities in our Great Nation, and advancing this important work in the White House.”

Mr. Walker made it to a May 14 runoff with Trump-endorsed lobbyist Addison McDowell in the March 5 primary in North Carolina’s 6th Congressional District. However, the third-place candidate, Christian Castelli, has endorsed Mr. McDowell.

Mr. Walker also announced on March 14 that he would drop out of the race. Given there is no Democrat or third-party candidate in the race, Mr. McDowell will be elected to Congress. In a separate statement announcing this campaign move, Mr. Walker threw his support behind Mr. McDowell.

“After speaking with Addison directly a couple of times over the last several days, I’m convinced that Addison can do great things for the people of the 6th district, which allowed me to not file for the upcoming runoff and work immediately and directly with President Trump, leading the effort into our faith-based and minority communities,” said Mr. Walker.

“From one pastor’s kid to another, I will be doing all I can to support Addison as he prepares to flip this seat from Democratic to Republican,” he continued.

Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.) has represented the district since January 2021, but she announced that she is not running for reelection, citing the redistricting, which solidly favors the Republican Party.

As he was advancing to the runoff on March 5, Mr. Walker seemed unfazed.

“It’s something I have experience in,” he told The Epoch Times after his speech at a watch party at Grace Baptist Church in Winston Salem, North Carolina.

In 2014, Mr. Walker defeated now-North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Phil Berger Jr. in a run-off and went on to win the general election.

Mr. Walker told The Epoch Times he is not sure if President Trump knew that Mr. McDowell, a hunting buddy of Donald Trump Jr., is a lobbyist.

During his speech to supporters and family members at the church, Mr. Walker remarked that a decade ago, it was “the pastor versus the politician.”

“This time, it’s going to be the pastor versus the lobbyist,” he said.

In Congress, Mr. Walker was the vice chair of the House GOP, a position that Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) held before being elected speaker last October.