by A bombshell report from The Daily Beast threatens to completely upend the Georgia Senate race.
Herschel Walker, the far-right Republican candidate backed by Trump, is now trying to respond to a report that claims he paid for an abortion for a woman he was dating in 2009.
According to Beastthe unnamed woman supported her claim with “a receipt for $575 from the abortion clinic, a ‘get well’ card from [Mr] Walker and a bank deposit slip that included an image of a signed personal check for $700 from [Mr] Walker.”
If true, the claim would be particularly damning for an anti-abortion absolutist like Mr Walker. The Republican is a staunch opponent of abortion rights and has repeatedly advocated for legislation that would ban the practice entirely, with no exceptions for reasons such as rape or incest.
Mr Walker denied the claim in a statement posted on his social media, adding in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that the story was an “outright lie”.
“I can tell you now, I’ve never asked anyone to have an abortion, I’ve never paid for an abortion and that’s a lie,” Mr Walker said.
In a move that appeared to take him by surprise, however, the Fox late-night host pressed him on the issue of the evidence obtained by Beast — particularly the $700 check Mr. Walker appeared, according to the documents, to have sent the woman days after she had an abortion for $575.
Mr Walker did not deny sending the money or explain why he might have done so in this particular case.
“I send money to a lot of people,” he said. “Let’s go back… I do scholarships for kids. I give money to people all the time because I’m always helping people.”
He also released a statement on Twitter pledging to take legal action against the left-wing news site.
The independent Mr. Walker’s team has been contacted for further comment.
One person unconvinced by the candidate’s denials was his son — Christian Walker, the widely popular conservative influencer whose TikTok videos are famous for infuriating liberals.
Tweet by Christian Walker, son of Georgia US Senate candidate Herschel Walker
(John Bowden)
The younger Mr. Walker blasted his father in a lengthy Twitter thread, calling his entire Senate bid a mistake his family saw coming.
Polls show Georgia Senate race very close — a FiveThirtyEight The polling average has Raphael Warnock, the incumbent, by just over two percentage points. A late-game shocker like this could send Mr. Walker’s candidacy into a tailspin at exactly the worst time.
Social media users were quick to sound the death knell for Mr Walker’s campaign as the news broke.
