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.”

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