DUNWOODY, Georgia (AP) — Herschel WalkerAs the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from Georgia, a vehement opponent of abortion rights, he paid for an abortion for his girlfriend in 2009, according to a new report published Monday night. The candidate called the allegation an “outright lie” and said he would prosecute.
The Daily Beast interviewed the ex-girlfriend who asked not to use her name because she was concerned about her privacy. The news outlet looked at a receipt showing she paid $575 for the surgery, as well as a Walker rehab card and her bank records showing a $700 personal check that Walker wrote five days after the abortion receipt. Image.
According to the Daily Beast, the woman said Walker encouraged her to end her pregnancy, saying it was not the right time to have children. As a candidate, Walker has described abortion as “a woman who kills her child” and has vehemently opposed the abortion procedure after the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that it stripped women of their constitutional right to abortion services.
Walker said in a statement that he would file a lawsuit against The Daily Beast on Tuesday morning.
“This is an outright lie – I deny it in the strongest terms,” he wrote.
Matt Fuller, political editor for The Daily Beast, responded on Twitter: “I can tell you we stand by every word and feel very strongly about this story.”
Later Monday night, Walker appeared on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show and was asked if he remembered sending his girlfriend a check for $700.
“Well, I send money to a lot of people,” he said. “I’ve been giving people money because I’ve been helping people. I believe in generosity. God has blessed me. I’m going to bless others.”
Walker and Democratic Senators. Raphael Warnock is in a tight race that’s crucial to the balance of power in the U.S. Senate. The chamber is now divided 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris holding a tiebreaker vote to give Democrats control. Warnock won the seat in the January special election runoff. On May 5, 2021, it was 2 percentage points higher than the then Mori. Kelly Loeffler, Republican.
The allegations against Walker are the latest in a series of stories about the football legend’s past that have rocked the first-time candidate’s campaign in one of the nation’s most competitive Senate races.Earlier this year, Walker admitted to reports that he has three children, which he has not discussed publicly before.
Walker often touts his work helping service members and veterans grapple with mental health.However, the Associated Press reported in May that various records showed he had exaggerated his role in the for-profit project. It was allegedly defrauding the government while looting veterans and service members.
The Associated Press also reported that a review of public records Detailed allegations that Walker repeatedly threatened his ex-wife’s life, exaggerated claims of financial success and alarmed business partners with unpredictable behavior. Walker himself has sometimes spoken about his long struggle with mental illness.
Republicans see Warnock as the most vulnerable of the Democratic Senate incumbents. But they were also skeptical about Walker’s viability as a statewide candidate, especially in the spring and summer when Walker’s past was aired publicly. In recent months, Walker has found his footing by attacking Warnock’s support for President Joe Biden’s agenda in Washington. Biden won Georgia by a narrow margin, but his approval ratings in the state have fallen sharply since 2020.
But Walker also made abortion an issue. During the Republican Senate primaries, he publicly supported a nationwide ban on abortion, including in cases involving rape, incest, or threats to a woman’s health—especially after the 1973 Wade Supreme Court precedent had been overturned and Democrats in Congress There has been talk of codifying abortion rights into federal law.
“I’m here for a living,” Walker said repeatedly on the campaign trail. When asked if he allowed any exceptions, he said there was “no excuse” for the procedure.
As a Republican nominee, Walker has sometimes sidestepped questions about his earlier support for a national abortion ban, a tacit approval of the fact that most voters, including many Republicans, at least want legal access to abortion. Instead, Walker sought to turn the issue to Warnock, who supports abortion rights. Walker has often said he does not understand how Warnock, the Baptist pastor, supports the legality of the process.
Warnock emphasized his support for abortion rights during a campaign event in the Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody on Monday night.
“I have a deep respect for life. I have a deep and abiding respect for choice. I believe a patient’s room is too small, a woman, her doctor and the U.S. government too small,” he said. said, and highlighted Walker’s support for a nationwide ban.
Warnock was dismissive when told about The Daily Beast’s story and when asked if it would affect the Georgia outcome. “I’ll let the authorities decide,” he said.
Walker’s son Christian Walker criticizes his father series of tweets Later on Monday, he said his family had “asked him not to run for office.”
“I don’t care about people who have a bad past and take responsibility,” Christian Walker tweeted. “But how dare you lie and act like you’re a ‘moral, Christian, Upright man’. You live a life of destroying other people’s lives. How dare you.”
For now, Republicans in Washington are backing Walker, and a spokesman for the Senate Republican campaign has dismissed The Daily Beast’s story as “nonsense” rooted in Democrats’ desperation.
“They and their media allies are doing what they’ve been doing — attacking Republicans with innuendo and lies,” said Chris Hartlin, a senior aide to the National Republican Senate Committee.