Herschel Walker knocks woke athletes protesting at the Olympics: 'If people don’t like the rules, why are you here?'

 Venerated former professional football player Herschel Walker doesn't understand why there are athletes carrying out performative protests at the Tokyo Olympics. Walker, who competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics, has one simple question for woke athletes protesting at the Olympics: "Why are you here?"

Walker, who is rumored to be considering a U.S. Senate run in Georgia, gave an interview to Fox News, where he discussed current-day Olympic athletes and the rush of patriotism he experienced when he was a member of the United States' Olympic bobsleigh team.

"People think I'm very harsh when I say this," Walker said on Friday. "This is the United States of America, and if people don't like the rules here — and there's no doubt we can make some things better — but if people don't like the rules here, why are you here?"

Walker questioned whether the Olympics is "the right place" for Americans to protest their country since there are foreign athletes "who would love to represent the United States of America" if they were ever given the opportunity.

"It's very sad to me because any other country… I can promise you… they would not be representing that country," he added. "I totally disagree with it, but they have the right to do it, even though I think it's wrong. We have to have leaders that… are going to stand up and say the right thing."

Walker, who was one of the greatest college football players of all time, was a member of Team USA's two-man bobsled team at the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France. The 59-year-old Walker described representing America in the 1992 Olympics as "one of the proudest moments" of his life.

"When I started seeing the United States flag and started seeing the people, the uniform, all my teammates from all different sports coming into that stadium — it almost brought a tear to my eye when I started thinking of where I grew up as a boy in my little hometown, and now having the chance to represent the United States of America," Walker reminisced. "I couldn't have been more proud of anything."

"All of my brothers and sisters were White, but I was [more proud] than anything. I would've died for that group over in France if I had to," Walker said of the USA bobsled team. "[They were] my family. … I couldn't have asked for anything better. I grew up in South Georgia — never, never could have dreamed of anything like that."

Walker's comments stem from woke American athletes staging social justice protests.

Hammer thrower Gwen Berry sparked outrage for turning away from the American flag as the national anthem played at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials last month after she finished in third place in the event. She also revealed a black T-shirt with the words "Activist Athlete" near the end of the national anthem. Only days after the highly publicized protest, internet users unearthed problematic tweets involving racist comments and rape "jokes."

The United States women's soccer team took a knee before its opening-round contest against Sweden in the Tokyo Olympics. After kneeling to make a statement against racism and other forms of discrimination, Team USA lost 3-0 to Sweden, the first loss for the women's soccer team since January 2019.