Walker drew from his personal experiences with the president to defend Trump against charges of racism, saying those who make such claims “don’t know what they are talking about.”

Walker recalled Trump’s time as an owner of the United States Football League’s New Jersey Generals, for which he played from 1983 to 1985, and the “deep personal friendship” they developed that included a trip to Disney World with their families.

“Right after he bought the team, he set out to learn,” he said. “He learned about the history of the team. The players, the coaches. Every detail. Then he used what he learned to make the team better. I watched him in the board room. He can be in the middle of a big meeting but if one of the kids was on the phone, he dropped everything to take the call. He taught me that the family should be your top priority. I watched him treat janitors, security guards and waiters the same way he would treat a V.I.P. He made them feel special, because he knew they were.”