Herschel Walker: football star-turned-senatorial candidate
The Trump-supporting Republican faces accusations of hypocrisy after allegedly paying for abortion
Herschel Walker, the American football star turned senatorial candidate, is facing accusations of hypocrisy after it was claimed he paid for a former girlfriend to have an abortion, despite campaigning for a total ban on reproductive rights.
The Republican candidate, who is running for the US senate in Georgia at next month’s mid-terms, has said he wants to completely ban abortion, likening it to murder, and claiming there should be “no exception” for rape, incest, or the life of the mother.
But the Daily Beast has published claims from a woman who says Walker paid for her abortion when they were dating in 2009. The woman, who has not been named, has claimed the allegation was supported by a receipt showing a $575 payment for the procedure, along with a get-well card, purportedly from Walker.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Who is Herschel Walker?
Brought up in a rural farm town about 140 miles southeast of Atlanta, Georgia, Walker won instant fame when he led his home state’s University of Georgia Bulldogs American football team to a national championship in 1982, taking the college game’s highest honour, the Heisman Trophy, before pursuing a successful NFL career.
Walker “is one of the most famous African Americans in Georgia’s history, a folk hero for legions of football fans”, said The New York Times, but is “unpopular with Black voters”.
This is because he represents “a relatively rare political being: he is a Black Republican who supports Donald Trump”, said Justin Glawe in a profile of Walker for The Guardian.
“African Americans are hesitant to say anything bad about Walker, but they are certainly not jumping at the chance to praise him,” said Glawe. “Whites, meanwhile, speak of Walker as the personification of the American Dream: he came from nothing, and now he’s something.”
How will the abortion allegation impact his chances?
Polls have Walker at just 2% behind incumbent Raphael Warnock, but these revelations that the anti-abortion champion could have paid for a termination risks derailing his campaign.
Asked why she came forward, the woman pointed to Walker’s hardline anti-abortion position.
“I just can’t with the hypocrisy any more,” she said. “We all deserve better.”
Walker denies the allegation, and on Fox News he called the story a “flat-out lie” and vowed to sue the Daily Beast for defamation.
However, the allegation “is the latest in a series of stories about the former football star’s past that have rocked the first-time candidate’s campaign in one of the most competitive Senate races in the country” reported The Guardian. ABC News said the latest report “came after torrents of other revelations – about questionable business ventures, fathering other children he didn’t previously acknowledge and allegations of domestic violence – that have concerned his fellow Republicans since before he won his primary”.
The allegation that Walker funded a girlfriend’s abortion seems to have been an open secret in some circles, while Walker’s eldest son, Christian, also appeared unsurprised at the revelations, tweeting:
“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.”
“What Herschel Walker has survived as a Senate candidate has already been remarkable,” said ABC News. “What Walker has to fend off and explain away from here will be another level entirely.”
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
6 stylish homes in Portland, Oregon
Feature Featuring a wall of windows in Collins View and a historic ballroom in Portland Heights
By The Week US Published
-
What's next for US interest rates?
The Explainer Stubborn inflation forestalls anticipated rate cuts
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
Russia rattles nuclear saber, orders tactical nuke drills
Speed Read President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian military to hold nuclear weapons drills in response to Western "threats"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The Don's enablers
Opinion Even Republicans who know better won't get in Trump's way
By William Falk Published
-
'Climate studies are increasingly becoming politicized'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
What would it be like in jail for Trump if he's convicted?
Today's Big Question The Secret Service has begun grappling with how to protect a former president behind bars
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'A financial windfall for Iranian terrorism'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
'Box Trump in for real if he pulls another stunt. Put him behind bars.'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
'Can we — the people who have bought so much already — really keep buying more?'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Summer Lee, the Pennsylvania 'squad' member who beat back a primary challenge
In the Spotlight Lee is the first Black woman ever elected to Congress from the Keystone State
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
'Presidential debates are more performance art than actual ways to inform'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published