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“Herschel Walker, who has vehemently opposed abortion rights as the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Georgia, paid for an abortion for his girlfriend in 2009, according to a new report. The candidate called the accusation a ‘flat-out lie’ and said he would sue.” AP News
The right is skeptical that the allegations will change voters’ minds, and urges Walker to focus on pocketbook issues.
“No one knows how this will turn out or how the story will unfold. But one thing is clear from decades of political experience: It won’t faze Republicans. This conclusion might strike readers as incredible. How can ardent pro-lifers vote for a man who allegedly paid to kill his own unborn child? But this phrasing misstates the question they will likely ask themselves. Here’s a more accurate inquiry: Does this allegation of a long-ago abortion matter more than the fact that Democratic Sen. Raphael G. Warnock is ardently pro-abortion rights?…
“That yields a completely different answer… The choice between Warnock and Walker isn’t a hard one for Republicans or pro-lifers. Warnock is a solidly progressive Democrat who has largely backed his party’s agenda. That’s disqualifying for any partisan Republican. Warnock also unreservedly supports abortion rights, even reiterating his support for them in responding to Monday’s bombshell report. Walker could be a major disappointment to his voters as a senator, but he couldn’t possibly be as problematic to them as Warnock.”
Henry Olsen, Washington Post
“The evidence seems to strongly suggest the story is true — unless someone forged a check. But because the media have spent a decade trashing their reputation, people have a right to wonder. If Walker did it, though, he could have just admitted it, anyway. There are scores of elected leaders who have allegedly ‘evolved’ to the pro-abortion position. There is no shame in taking the better journey.”
David Harsanyi, The Federalist
“This abortion that Walker allegedly paid for took place 13 years ago. Let’s say these allegations are true. So what? There are plenty of women who are pro-life champions after having undergone an abortion in the past that they now regret. There is no reason this can’t apply to men as well. Walker has made it clear that he’s pretty pro-life now, and the idea that someone can’t change over the course of a decade-plus is outright stupid. His intentions are to push pro-life legislation, saving countless lives in the process.”
Brandon Morse, RedState
“Walker needs to get an aggressive message out ASAP and move straight back into focusing on Warnock’s record if he is going to survive this. The response needs to be rapid and he needs to go straight back to making it about crime, the economy, and inflation — the three biggest issues Georgia voters care about. The forcefulness of Walker’s denial will matter to voters and he’s got to use it to pivot back to what is not a distraction to voters, their pocketbooks.”
Erick-Woods Erickson, Substack
The left accuses the GOP of hypocrisy, and laments the extreme partisanship that enables such flawed candidates.
The left accuses the GOP of hypocrisy, and laments the extreme partisanship that enables such flawed candidates.
“Walker has spent the entire campaign condemning abortion, repeatedly likening it to murder and making it clear that he wants the medical procedure banned, full stop… He has dubbed carve-outs for rape, incest, and the life of the mother ‘excuses.’ Just last month, Walker claimed that his stance on abortion is not at all new, as the Daily Beast notes, and that he has ‘always’ been ‘for life.’”
Bess Levin, Vanity Fair
“The yawning hypocrisy between Walker’s policy ideas and his own behavior is one symptom of a Republican Party in flux on social issues, and particularly on abortion… Do they leave abortion policy to the states? Pursue a national ban? De-emphasize the issue amid voter backlash?…
“More broadly, however, the party faces the quandary of Donald Trump, a man who delivered the conservative Court that overturned Roe after years of failed promises by Republican politicians to do so, and yet who is a chronically dishonest, thrice-married, philandering sexual harasser who backed abortion rights in recent memory and is not religious. Walker followed Trump in combining the censoriousness of the Moral Majority with a total lack of personal moral code. These kinds of tensions are emblematic of an era when both parties view the other as a grave danger to their way of life and even life itself.”
David A. Graham, The Atlantic
“This new revelation about Walker, who has denied the allegation, hasn’t affected our forecast of the Georgia Senate race… Walker has already been tagged with the scandal variable… Walker’s ex-wife accused him of threatening to kill her and was granted a protective order against him in 2005. He and a business partner were sued after failing to repay $625,000 in loans… And in June, The Daily Beast reported that Walker had fathered three children he had not previously publicly acknowledged.”
Nathaniel Rakich, FiveThirtyEight
“It’s sometimes said that [Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell is one of the few Republican leaders truly trying to move the party away from Trump. But that’s an overly credulous reading: In reality, McConnell has at key moments sought to harness Trump’s pathologies in highly destructive ways. For instance, McConnell refused for weeks in 2020 to recognize Biden’s win in a failed effort to keep Trump voters energized for the Georgia runoffs, helping fuel the lies that inspired the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The continued backing of Walker is the latest example of McConnell’s effort to coopt Trumpism.”
Greg Sargent, Washington Post
