Beard?

Robert Verdi will be in Minneapolis this week and the Tribune did a little interview with him... All normal answers except the following (mostly ad libbed except the direct quote below):

StarTribune: Any plans of special things to do while in Minneapolis?
Robert Verdi: No firm plans, I'll be working long hours so I'm not sure what I'll have time for. "A friend arranged for me to have a walker who will be my beard." I'll go online and check things out and roll with it.

I like to think I have a fair grasp of the English language but was confused by this sentence. What is he trying to say? I thought "beard" may have an alternate definition of which I was unaware... Not the case according to dictionary.com. I am left clueless as to what Robert is talking about...