Herschel Walker Doesn’t Deny $700 Check: ‘I Send Money to a Lot of People’
Herschel Walker #HerschelWalker
U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker has denied he paid for a woman to have an abortion in 2009 and said he sends “money to a lot of people” after an allegation that he paid for a former girlfriend to have the procedure.
Walker, a Republican challenging Democrat Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, spoke on Fox News’ Hannity on Monday following a report from The Daily Beast that claimed Walker had paid for the abortion of unnamed woman more than 10 years ago.
Host Sean Hannity asked Walker about an alleged check paid to the woman, saying: “What about the $700 check? Is there anybody you can remember sending that much money to?”
“Well, I send money to a lot of people,” Walker replied. “And that’s what’s so funny.”
“You know, I do scholarships for kids,” he said. “I give money to people all the time because I’m always helping people because I believe in being generous. God has blessed me, and I want to bless others.”
Walker said he got into the senatorial race because, “I’m a Christian, I love the Lord Jesus Christ and I always tell everyone that.”
Walker also told Hannity on Friday: “I never asked anyone to get an abortion, I never paid for an abortion, and it’s a lie.”
Video of Walker’s comments to Hannity was shared on Twitter by journalist Aaron Rupar, and some of the social-media site’s users said that the Republican’s remarks were not a denial that he sent the woman the money.
Roger Sollenberger, author of The Daily Beast’s article, shared Rupar’s tweet and wrote: “Not denying he sent the woman money.”
Newsweek has asked the Walker campaign for comment.
The Republican has made his opposition to abortion a major part of his campaign as he faces a close race against Warnock in Georgia. Walker has said abortion was “a woman killing her baby.”
Walker’s alleged ex-girlfriend had asked not to be identified out of privacy concerns, and The Daily Beast reported that the woman had a $575 receipt from the abortion clinic, a “get well” card from Walker, and a bank-deposit receipt that included the image of a signed $700 personal check from him.
Newsweek has not independently verified those claims.
Walker called the story a “flat-out lie” in a statement shared to Twitter and repeated that denial during his interview with Hannity. He also said in his statement that he planned to sue The Daily Beast.
Walker disputed The Daily Beast’s report in a statement on Monday and pledged to file suit over the matter.
“I deny this in the strongest possible terms,” Walker said in the statement. “This is another repugnant hatchet job by a democrat activist disguised as a reporter who has obsessively attacked my family and tried to tear me down since this race started… It’s disgusting, gutter politics.”
“I’m not taking this anymore,” Walker added. “I [am] planning to sue The Daily Beast for this defamatory lie. It will be filed tomorrow morning.”
Robert Ingram, a lawyer who represents the Walker campaign and the candidate in his personal capacity, told The Daily Beast in a phone call: “This is a false story.”
“All you want to do is run with stories to target Black conservatives,” Ingram said. “You focus on Black conservatives.”
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