Herschel Walker says paid abortion would be ‘nothing to be ashamed of,’ continues to deny claim

Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker continued to deny Thursday that he paid for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion and the latest allegation that he also fathered a child with the same woman.

The Daily Beast, which first unearthed evidence that Mr. Walker reimbursed a woman for an abortion in 2009, reported Wednesday that the unnamed woman also conceived a child with him.

Mr. Walker is denying that he knew the identity of the woman and that he ever paid someone to have an abortion, but suggested that such a move would be “nothing to be ashamed of.”  

“Had that happened, I would have said it, because it’s nothing to be ashamed of. People have done that, but I know nothing about it,” he told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “And if I knew about it, I would be honest and talk about it, but I know nothing about that.”

In his Senate campaign, Mr. Walker has called for a national ban on abortion beyond 15 weeks of pregnancy.

The abortion allegations have thrown the embattled Republican’s campaign into turmoil just weeks before voters head to the polls in a race that could determine control of the Senate. Still, Republicans have stood by the former NFL player, a stark contrast from the public ridicule that one of his sons, Christian Walker, has directed at him.

The Daily Beast revealed earlier this year that Mr. Walker had several other children with other women who were not previously known to the public. He told Mr. Hewitt that he has not sat down since then with Christian, who is age 23 and a conservative social media influencer.
 
“I haven’t sat down with Christian since he started believing, I think, when he started believing that I had other kids, never told him about it,” Mr. Walker said. “I think he’s extremely hurt from that.”

Christian Walker reacted with a four-word tweet Thursday to the latest allegation that his father conceived a child with a woman with whom he paid to have an abortion: “Wear a condom, damn.”