Herschel Walker denies report he paid for girlfriend's 2009 abortion

A report that Republican candidate Herschel Walker paid for his then-girlfriend’s abortion in 2009 has roiled the high-profile Georgia Senate race.

On Monday evening,the Daily Beast reported that Walker had urged his girlfriend to end her pregnancy and included a signed check from Walker to cover the procedure, a receipt from the abortion clinic, a "get well" card from Walker and corroboration with friends of the women, who remained anonymous. Walker has staked out a staunchly anti-abortion position in the campaign, saying the procedure should be banned with no exceptions for rape, incest or the health of the mother.

Walker disputed the Daily Beast’s report in a statement, calling it a "flat-out lie" and saying, "I'm not taking this anymore. I [am] planning to sue the Daily Beast for this defamatory lie. It will be filed tomorrow morning.” Public figures' lawsuits against media outlets have a high bar of proof in the U.S.; it's unclear what evidence Walker may offer in court to attempt disproving the report.

When asked about the $700 check during an appearance on Sean Hannity’s primetime Fox News show, Walker said, “I send money to a lot of people,” noting that he gives scholarships and “is always helping people.” Walker said the report was a “flat-out lie” and said it left him “energized.”

Following an early endorsement from former President Donald Trump, the University of Georgia football legend comfortably won the Republican primary to face incumbent Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock. This victory came despite concerns about his background, whichincluded accusations ofdomestic abuse and the exaggerations of both hisbusiness andacademic records. Warnock has focused on Walker's extreme abortion position in the race, including his support of Sen. Lindsey Graham's, R-S.C., national ban at 15 weeks, which other GOP candidates have sidestepped as much as possible since it was proposed in September.

Earlier this summer, reports revealed that Walker had previously undisclosed children and that he hadreportedly lied to his own campaign staff about their existence. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in June that Walker falsely claimed that he worked in law enforcement.

His son, Christian, criticized his father in a series of tweets Monday night following the report, writing, “I know my mom and I would really appreciate if my father Herschel Walker stopped lying and making a mockery of us. You’re not a ‘family man’ when you left us to bang a bunch of women, threatened to kill us, and had us move over 6 times in 6 months running from your violence.”

Christian, a right-wing influencer who had been previously supporting his father’s campaign, continued, writing, “I don’t care about someone who has a bad past and takes accountability. But how DARE YOU LIE and act as though you’re some ‘moral, Christian, upright man.’ You’ve lived a life of DESTROYING other peoples lives. How dare you. … Every family member of Herschel Walker asked him not to run for office, because we all knew (some of) his past. Every single one. He decided to give us the middle finger and air out all of his dirty laundry in public, while simultaneously lying about it. I’m done.”

Following those comments, Herschel Walker tweeted, "I LOVE my son no matter what." Christian responded to the commentin a now-deleted post and added, "You have 4 kids that we know of and you weren't in the house raising ONE of them, you were out cheating and lying. If you loved your kids you'd be raising them instead of running for a senate race to boost your ego."

The younger Walker responded to a video of him introducing his dad at a campaign eventby writing, "That was when we were told he was going to 'get in front of his past and tell the truth.' You know, before he started lying about my mom and his behavior."

The Georgia seat was seen as a prime pick-up opportunity for Republicans, with Democrats narrowly winning statewide races there in 2020, including Warnock winning a special election runoff to fill out the final two years of the previous term. Warnock has been a prolific fundraiser and recent polling has shown him with slim leads. With the Senate currently evenly split at 50-50, if Walker’s candidacy indeed fails, it could potentially imperil a Republican takeover of the chamber.

Walker set expectations low for the candidates’ only scheduled debate, saying at a press conference last month, “I’m this country boy. I’m not that smart. And he’s that preacher. He’s a smart man, wears these nice suits. So he’s going to show up and embarrass me at the debate October the 14th, and I’m just waiting. I’ll show up and I’m going to do my best.”