Herschel Walker’s son, Christian Walker, blasted his dad’s bid for a Georgia Senate seat by calling him a foul father, a liar and a hypocrite simply hours after a information report on Monday mentioned the GOP nominee received a girl pregnant and paid for her abortion greater than a decade in the past.
“I don’t care about somebody who has a foul previous and takes accountability. However how DARE YOU LIE and act as if you’re some ‘ethical, Christian, upright man.’ You’ve lived a lifetime of DESTROYING different peoples lives. How dare you,” Christian Walker wrote in a series of tweets.
“Each member of the family of Herschel Walker requested him to not run for workplace, as a result of all of us knew (a few of) his previous. Each single one. He determined to present us the center finger and air out all of his soiled laundry in public, whereas concurrently mendacity about it,” he added.
The outburst got here shortly after the Each day Beast, citing a girl who requested to not be recognized due to privateness issues, revealed a narrative saying Walker had urged a girl to have an abortion in 2009 after getting her pregnant. The information outlet mentioned it corroborated the small print with a pal who says she accompanied the girl to the process. It additionally revealed what the girl mentioned was a “get nicely” card signed by Walker and mentioned she had supplied each the receipt from the abortion clinic and a financial institution deposit exhibiting a picture of Walker’s examine reimbursing her for the price of the process.
NBC Information has not but verified the girl’s allegations or independently reviewed the paperwork. When reached for remark, Walker’s marketing campaign pointed NBC Information to the candidate’s response on Twitter, the place he denied the story and mentioned he deliberate to sue the publication for defamation.
Walker later addressed the allegations on Fox Information.
“I can inform you proper now, I by no means requested anybody to get an abortion, I by no means paid for an abortion,” Walker advised Sean Hannity.
When requested in regards to the examine, Walker mentioned, “Properly, I ship cash to lots of people. I give cash to folks on a regular basis as a result of I’m all the time serving to folks, as a result of I imagine in being beneficiant.”
Walker, a political newcomer and former NFL working again who was recruited and endorsed by former President Donald Trump, is an outspoken opponent of abortion and a harsh critic of absentee fathers.
Earlier reporting by the Each day Beast revealed that Walker had three different kids he had not publicly acknowledged as a candidate. He later confirmed he had 4 kids.
In response to Christian Walker’s tweets, Herschel Walker responded to 1 by saying, “I LOVE my son it doesn’t matter what.”
The broadsides from Walker’s son and the regular drum beat of destructive adverts and different unflattering tales about his private life are making it harder for the previous soccer star to overhaul Sen. Raphael Warnock, his Democratic opponent, within the polls.
Monday’s bombshell story comes as abortion has emerged as a key challenge for voters after the Supreme Courtroom overturned Roe v. Wade. Final month, Warnock launched a TV advert focusing on Walker’s opposition to abortion rights.
As for the impact of the newest revelations, Republicans weren’t positive what the aftershocks would deliver as a result of the citizens is so polarized in Georgia.
“Should you requested me 5 years in the past, I’d’ve mentioned somebody like Donald Trump couldn’t get elected. In the present day, that calculus is completely different,” mentioned former Republican state Rep. Scot Turner.
“It will make a distinction with a sure phase of the citizens, however within the post-Trump period, soiled laundry doesn’t matter as a lot as the larger image,” he mentioned. “Herschel remains to be beloved right here. He’s a people hero. Lots of people have proven they’re prepared to look the opposite means if somebody is supporting the fitting insurance policies.”
Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican, deadpanned that “I can’t consider a situation the place this helps him.”
However Republican advisor John Porter mentioned it’s too quickly to evaluate the harm to Walker’s marketing campaign.
“Let’s see the way it performs out within the subsequent 48 hours,” he mentioned. “Most persuadable voters aren’t on Twitter following Christian Walker and his penchant for drama. Let’s see if it will get better legs.”
Buzz Brockway, a former Republican state legislator who has been vital of Trump previously, mentioned the crush of adverts savaging Walker has made information like this “already baked within the cake, so to talk. His report of violent conduct has been identified for month’s now. It’s additionally identified his son doesn’t get together with him. I’m unsure this issues in any respect.”
However one high adviser to a statewide Republican marketing campaign who was granted anonymity to talk freely was down on Walker’s possibilities.
“This simply ended his marketing campaign,” the Republican mentioned, including that “for each punch, there’s a counter punch. They [Walker’s campaign] don’t even have that … he’s not that kind of candidate.”
