Trump pro-life pick Herschel Walker ‘paid for girlfriend’s abortion’

Explosive accusations of hypocrisy against ex-football star Herschel Walker, a Senate candidate in Georgia, put GOP hopes in jeopardy.

The Donald Trump-endorsed candidate for Georgia, former football star Herschel Walker has been accused of paying a former girlfriend to have an abortion in 2009. Walker is standing on a ‘no exceptions’ opposition to abortion platform.

Explosive accusations of hypocrisy against Donald Trump-backed ex-football star Herschel Walker, a Senate candidate in the battleground state of Georgia, have thrown Republican hopes of retaking the Senate into jeopardy.

Five weeks out from midterm elections that will decide whether Joe Biden’s Democrats keep control of Congress, Mr Walker, who made “no exceptions” opposition to abortion a key part of his election platform, was accused of paying a former girlfriend to have an abortion in 2009.

The probability of Walker’s winning the Georgia Senate race plunged from 52 per cent to 42 per cent soon after the Daily Beast, a left-wing online magazine, published the allegations, according to widely quoted political betting market PredictIt.

The contest matters because it is among a handful of close races Republicans need to win in order to take back control of the critical upper house chamber, which is currently split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats.

“Asked if Walker ever expressed regret for the decision, the woman said Walker never had. Asked why she came forward, the woman pointed to Walker’s hard-line anti-abortion position. ‘I just can’t with the hypocrisy anymore,’ she said. ‘We all deserve better’,” The Daily Beast wrote in a story published Monday (Tuesday AEDT).

Abortion became a hot-button issue in June after the Supreme Court ruled abortion rights were a matter for the states to decide.

Mr Walker, 60, who has been accused of lying about his academic and employment history since he won the Republican nomination for the Senate in May with the backing of Mr Trump, said he would sue the publication, declaring the story a “flat out lie”.

“I never asked anyone to get an abortion. I never paid for an abortion, and it’s a lie.” Asked about the cheque, Walker said, “I send money to a lot of people,” he told Fox News.

The Daily Beast produced an abortion receipt, a get-well card signed by Mr Walker, and a personal cheque to the unidentified woman for US$700.

Mr Walker’s son Christian, a gay conservative TikTok influencer, all but confirmed the story hours later in a series of scathing videos posted to Twitter, in which he accused his father of “lying and making a mockery of the family”.

I’ve stayed silent for nearly two years as my whole life has been lied about publicly. I did ONE campaign event, then said I didn’t want involvement.

Don’t you dare test my authenticity. Here is the full story: pic.twitter.com/ekVEcz8zq3

— Christian Walker (@ChristianWalk1r) October 4, 2022

“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,” he said.

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 Walker (@ChristianWalk1r) October 4, 2022

Mr Walker, who shot to fame as a college football star in the 1970s, replied on Twitter: “I love my son no matter what”.

I LOVE my son no matter what

— Herschel Walker (@HerschelWalker) October 4, 2022

The accusations against Mr Walker came after a number of critical senate races, including in Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada and Pennsylvania, appeared to tighten in Republicans’ favour, as the two major parties prepare to ramp up their advertising in the final month of a campaign that, nationally, has revolved around abortions rights, the economy and crime.

Kevin Seifert, a Washington-based Republican strategist, played down the impact of the accusations against Mr Walker, urging Georgia Republicans to “make the race about the economy and a referendum on Biden’s leadership”.

“The information that came out in last 24 hours, I don’t believe will be shocking to people in Georgia, Walker has been a public figure in the state for decades, and Dems have been attacking him along these lines for months,” he told The Australian.

Mr Walker’s opponent Democrat Senator Raphael Warnock, who won the seat in a 2021 by-election a day before the January 6th riots in Washington, led Mr Walker by about two percentage points before the Daily Beast story emerged, according to an average of polls conducted by FiveThirtyEight, published before the allegations.

“I’ll let the pundits decide how they think it will impact the race,” Mr Warnock told reporters after the allegations broke.

Polls suggest Republicans will win control of the 435-seat House of Representatives, in which Democrats currently have a small majority of 220 members, in November, but the Senate remains a toss up.

“It looks like the Senate could be split 51-49 — with either Republicans or Democrats having control – or with a net change of zero as the chamber remains split 50-50, keeping Democrats in power,” the Cook Political Report, a widely quoted US political consulting firm, concluded after the story.

The November 8 midterm elections in Georgia will also see Democrat firebrand Stacey Abrams, who failed in her bid to oust incumbent Republican Governor Brian Kemp in 2018, try once again for the governor’s mansion.