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Walker, Warnock
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker spoke to supporters at a campaign stop in Carrollton Tuesday but did not directly address recent unfavorable allegations about his payment for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion and violence against his ex-wife.
The accusations serve as a backdrop for tonight’s highly-anticipated debate between Walker and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, between which the race is getting too close to call.
In the past few weeks, Walker has faced a string of troubling allegations. His son, Christian Walker, took to social media to criticize his father’s violence and parenting.
And the Republican’s staunch anti-abortion stance has been called into question by allegations from an ex-girlfriend who said Walker had paid for her abortion in 2009 and pressured her to get an abortion when she became pregnant a second time. Walker has denied the allegations.
But during Tuesday’s West Georgia campaign stop, fellow Republican Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Tom Cotton of Arkansas praised Walker before a cheering crowd of supporters in a local shopping center parking lot.
Walker did not directly address the recent allegations against him at the rally but suggested that the claims are political smears aimed at dividing his followers.
“They’ll do what it takes because they want this seat,” Walker said.
Walker also spoke about his core campaign themes: inflation, crime, drug trafficking, and what he termed “wokeness” in American society, which encompasses social themes such as transgender rights and racism.
“Have you seen that [Southern] border wide open?” Walker asked, saying Warnock had done nothing to help build a wall on the border in two years in office.
Walker also criticized a move to grant transgender rights within the U.S. military.
“These are wartimes. What happened to push-ups? Iran and Russia are not talking about pronouns,” Walker said to cheers from the crowd.
And Walker took aim at incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, who is seeking a full term in the Senate in November. Warnock is the longtime pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, the former church of Martin Luther King Jr.
“All he [Warnock] talks about is the color of your skin,” Walker said. “Has he ever heard of forgiveness? Has he ever heard of redemption?
“They want to tell white kids, ‘You’re an oppressor.’ They want to tell Black kids, ‘You’re a victim.’ … Don’t let them separate you.”
Walker’s decision to campaign with Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the GOP’s Senate campaign arm, drew criticism from Democrats.
“Walker’s embrace of Rick Scott – and his disastrous plan to slash Medicare and Social Security highlights just how much is at stake for Georgians in this U.S. Senate race,” said Dan Gottlieb, a spokesman for the Democratic Party of Georgia.
“While Rev. Warnock fought to lower prescription drug costs for Georgia seniors and protect Social Security, Herschel Walker is campaigning with Rick Scott, who’s fighting to cut Social Security for more than 1.9 million Georgians who rely on it,” said Sarafina Chitika, press secretary for Warnock. “Georgia seniors deserve a senator who will stand up for them, not someone who sees a friend in a politician who wants to slash their benefits.”
With just one month to go in the nationally watched Senate race that could determine the party balance in Washington, both candidates are benefitting from an influx of cash.
During the third quarter, the Warnock campaign raised about $26 million, while Walker raised about $12 million.
However, the Walker campaign said his fundraising amount was the largest quarterly total for any Republican U.S. Senate candidate in this election cycle.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.