Herschel Walker threatens to sue over abortion accusation and is then attacked by son
Herschel Walker, who has taken an unyielding stance against abortion rights as the Republican nominee for Senate in Georgia, threatened on Monday to sue the Daily Beast after it reported that Walker once paid for a girlfriend’s abortion.
“This is a flat-out lie — and I deny this in the strongest possible terms,” Walker posted on Twitter, in response to the Daily Beast article.
Things got more complicated for the Republican candidate when his son, Christian Walker, subsequently sent a series of tweets accusing his father of abusive behavior and of being a terrible father.
“I know my mom and I would really appreciate if my father Herschel Walker stopped lying and making a mockery of us,” Christian Walker tweeted. “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.”
In another tweet, he added: “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.”
Christian Walker is the 23-year-old son of Herschel Walker and Cindy DeAngelis Grossman, who are no longer married.
“I LOVE my son no matter what,” the candidate tweeted in response.
Herschel Walker appeared defiant in an interview on Monday evening with Fox News host Sean Hannity, again denying the abortion allegations.
“I never asked anyone to get an abortion. I never paid for an abortion, and it’s a lie. And I’m going to continue to fight,” Walker said, suggesting the reporting was a dishonest attack by his political opponents in a tight, vital race for both parties.
The Daily Beast reported that a woman, whom it did not identify, said Walker reimbursed her for an abortion after they conceived in 2009. In the article, published on Monday evening, the Daily Beast posted as corroboration of the woman’s account images of a receipt from the clinic, a sympathy card from Walker and a check that Walker had written. POLITICO has not independently verified the Daily Beast’s reporting.
The Senate candidate characterized the article as “slander,” “defamatory” and “disgusting, gutter politics,” and called the article’s author “a democrat activist disguised as a reporter.” Walker said on Twitter that he planned to sue the publication on Tuesday morning.
Asked by Hannity to address the check specifically, Walker said: “I send money to a lot of people, and that’s what’s so funny. ... God has blessed me, I want to bless others. I got into this race because I’m a Christian.”
He similarly said he sent out many get-well cards, and said he had not seen the image of the get-well card posted as corroboration by the Daily Beast. He did not deny that either the card or the check came from him, even as he vehemently denied paying for any abortion.
The candidate, a former University of Georgia football star backed by former President Donald Trump, has said he supports an exception-free ban on abortion, telling reporters in May that “there’s no exception in my mind” for the procedure. The stance goes further than many of his Republican colleagues, some of whom support exceptions for rape, incest or other circumstances.
Walker faces a tight race against Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock for a seat that could be crucial in determining whether Democrats maintain their slim majority in the upper chamber.
If Walker wins his race, it won’t be the first time a conservative candidate has overcome accusations of funding abortions. Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.) has served in Congress since 2011, despite reports in 2012 that he paid for his ex-wife’s abortions and had pressured a mistress to get an abortion. He subsequently faced tough primary challenges in 2014 and 2016, but prevailed.