Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker admits sending a $700 check to a woman who claims she used it for an abortion, but the former NFL player denies it was for that purpose.
“It’s a lie,” Walker told NBC News. Walker is running as a fervent anti-abortion rights candidate. “Prove that I did that. Just to show me things like that does nothing for me.”
“Yes, that’s my check,” Walker said. “I have no idea what that could be for.”
The woman, who has not been identified and is the mother of one of Walker’s children, shared records that she said document the 2009 abortion. The Daily Beast reported the allegations earlier this month.
Walker contends he has done nothing wrong. “Voters believe me because I have been very transparent about everything I’ve ever done. You know I wrote a book about everything I have done. I have not tried to hide one thing I’ve ever done,” Walker added in his NBC News exclusive interview.
The Republican candidate also faces domestic violence allegations toward his ex-wife and attributes his past episodes to dissociative identity disorder.
Walker’s ex-wife, Cindy Grossman, told CNN in a 2008 interview that Walker held a gun to her head multiple times and held a razor to her throat.
Critics of Walker have labeled him a hypocrite given his strong stance against abortion, which includes supporting a national ban after 15 weeks with no exceptions, including for rape. Walker’s Democratic opponent, Sen. Raphael Warnock, argues that Walker is not up to the task of representing the Peach State in the U.S. Senate.
“My opponent Herschel Walker is not ready,” Warnock told CNN. “The people of Georgia deserve a serious person to represent them at serious times.”
Walker’s campaign to unseat Warnock has made for one of the most competitive and crucial Senate races this year and could help determine which party controls the U.S. Senate come January.
Despite his controversies, many Republican politicians, such as senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Rick Scott of Florida, have come to Walker’s defense and even campaigned with him. The National Republican Senatorial Committee says it will be redirecting funds to his campaign in these last few weeks before the Nov. 8 election.
