Herschel Walker denies in ‘strongest possible terms’ report he paid for abortion

By Eric Bradner, CNN

Herschel Walker, the Republican nominee in Georgia’s Senate race, on Monday said a report that he paid for an abortion more than a decade ago was a “flat-out lie” and a “repugnant hatchet job.”

Walker’s denial came shortly after the Daily Beast reported he had paid for a woman’s abortion after the two conceived a child while they were dating in 2009. The Daily Beast reported the woman, who the outlet said asked to remain anonymous due to privacy concerns, had supported those claims with a $575 receipt from the abortion clinic, a bank deposit receipt that showed an image of a signed personal check for $700 from Walker, and a “get well” card she claimed was from Walker, who was not married at the time. The Daily Beast published a photo of the card, bearing what the outlet said was Walker’s signature.

CNN has not independently verified the allegations reported by the Daily Beast.

“This is a flat-out lie — and I deny this in the strongest possible terms,” Walker said in a statement posted on his verified Twitter account in which he called the report a “repugnant hatchet job” and criticized what he described as the Daily Beast’s reporting tactics.

“Now, they’re using an anonymous source to further slander me,” Walker said. “They will do anything to hold onto power. It’s disgusting, gutter politics.”

Walker is facing Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in one of the nation’s most competitive Senate races.

A first-time candidate for office, Walker, a Republican endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has opposed abortion rights. He said last month he would support a national ban on abortions after 15 weeks. He said in May that he supports a ban on abortion rights and that there are “no exceptions in my mind.”

In a statement on Twitter, Walker claimed he plans to sue the Daily Beast for what he said is a “defamatory lie” on Tuesday morning.

In an interview Monday night, Walker told Fox’s Sean Hannity that he didn’t know the woman making the accusation and that he hadn’t seen the card. “I send out to so many, get well, send out so much of anything, but I can tell you right now I never asked anyone to get an abortion, I never paid for an abortion, and it’s a lie.”

When asked if he remembered sending anyone a $700 check Walker said, “I send money to a lot of people. … I give money to people all the time cause I’m always helping people.”

CNN has reached out to Walker’s campaign for additional comment on the matter.

Warnock on Monday night said he had not read the Daily Beast’s report yet, and sidestepped questions about how it might affect the race.

“I’ll let the pundits decide how they think it will impact the race,” Warnock said. “But I have been consistent in my view that a patient’s room is too narrow and cramped a space for a woman, her doctor, and the government. … And my opponent, on the other hand, is talking about a nationwide ban with no exceptions.”

Christian Walker, one of Herschel Walker’s sons, took to Twitter Monday night just hours after Herschel Walker denied the Daily Beast report to attack his father and level a series of accusations against him. “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,'” Christian Walker said in one tweet.

“You’re not a ‘family man,'” Christian Walker said in another post.

On Tuesday morning, Christian Walker released a new video on Twitter in which he says he is done with what he called his father’s lies and that conservatives should care about what he described as his father’s deceptions.

“I was silent lie after lie after lie, the abortion card drops yesterday. It’s literally his handwriting in the card. They say they have receipts, whatever. He gets on Twitter. He lies about it. Okay, I’m done. Done. Everything has been a lie,” Walker said.

Herschel Walker has spoken frequently on the campaign trail about Christian Walker, the son he and his ex-wife had together and raised along with Walker’s current wife. Christian is an outspoken conservative on social media.

When asked for a statement, Herschel Walker’s campaign pointed to a tweet the Senate candidate sent Monday night reading, “I LOVE my son no matter what.”

Christian Walker ended his series of tweets Monday night by writing, “I’m done.”

National support

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has been in touch with Walker’s campaign over the past 24 hours, working with his aides as they navigate the allegation against Walker.

A person familiar with the matter said NRSC Chairman Rick Scott was scheduled to speak with Walker by phone Tuesday morning. Walker has strongly denied the allegation.

At the moment, the GOP Senate campaign arm is looking to see what else surfaces from Walker’s son Christian, who has publicly accused his father of lying about being “a family man” in a bevy of late-night social media postings and a video shared Tuesday morning.

In late September, the NRSC announced an $8.5 million joint ad buy with the Walker campaign.

Reached for comment, NRSC spokesman Chris Hartline told CNN, “Democrats are losing in Georgia and are on the verge of losing the majority, so they and their media allies are doing what they always do – attack Republicans with innuendo and lies.”

Notably, Hartline did not echo Walker’s denials about the latest allegations he is facing.

“Democrats and the media have tried to stir up nonsense about what has or hasn’t happened in Herschel Walker’s past,” Hartline said.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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CNN’s Manu Raju, Gabby Orr and Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report.