SAVANNAH, Ga. — National Republican leaders rallied to Herschel Walker’s side on Friday, as he and Sen. Raphael G. Warnock (D-Ga.) prepared for their only scheduled debate in the one of the biggest battleground races of the year.
Walker, who is running on a strict antiabortion platform, opposing the procedure without exceptions for rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother, has said the account is not true. On Friday morning, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, echoed Walker’s message.
“Herschel Walker has denied those allegations,” Scott said at a pre-debate rally for Walker. “He’s had lots of struggles, like a lot of people do, like a lot of families do.”
Even before the woman’s story, which was first reported by the Daily Beast, strategists in both parties had circled the debate on their calendar, saying the outcome of Georgia’s contest may determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the Senate for the next two years.
“The path to the majority comes right here through Georgia,” Scott said at a rally in Savannah.
Last week, the Daily Beast published an account of the mother of one of Walker’s children saying he paid for her 2009 abortion after she became pregnant while they were in a relationship. The Post has reviewed a receipt for the procedure, an ATM deposit slip that includes an image of a $700 check written by Walker days after the procedure and a “get well” card that he sent with the check. The Post has spoken with a person the woman confided in at the time, who corroborated her account.
Though Democrats have said they think the revelations could upend what has been a tight race, some supporters said the senator shouldn’t bring it up onstage. “That speaks for itself. Walker is showing his true color,” Mattie England, a retired nurse, said at a rally for Warnock here in Savannah.
“Rev. Warnock, in terms of the things that he needs to bring up today, I don’t necessarily know that Mr. Walker’s honesty is one of them,” said Donna Sanders, a student and caregiver from Savannah. “I think most of us voters see clearly, regardless of what’s plastered all over political commercials.”
Scott, the NRSC chair, also tried to move on from the abortion story and instead focus on how much of the Republican agenda is at stake in the race. He said Walker will help lower taxes, secure the border and ensure parental involvement with schools. “If you name all these issues, Warnock is on the wrong side,” Scott said.
Walker’s ads have focused on the issues that he said he would support in the Senate, including working to secure borders, reduce crime and fight inflation.
Other GOP leaders have also tried to deflect from the stories about Walker’s personal life. “I’m more concerned about Raphael G. Warnock’s future than I am about Herschel Walker’s past, I’ll tell you that,” Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-Ga.) said.
Democrats and the Warnock campaign have aired ads criticizing Walker for presenting a false account of his education, not giving promised money to charities, violently threatening an ex-wife, overstating his work for veterans and inflating the size of his company.
Walker has acknowledged the onslaught of negative ads with a TV advertisement of his own. “I can take the hits,” Walker says in the spot as footage from a football game plays, “but it won’t change the facts.”
The debate was also expected to highlight some of the stylistic differences between the two candidates. Warnock, a senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached, has been praised by supporters for his oratorical skills. Walker has commanded five-figure fees for paid speeches, but his rhetoric can be more difficult to follow.
Scott predicted that Walker would handle himself well onstage but would seek to draw a distinction between the two candidates. “He’s going to show the country the difference between somebody that has a silver tongue and somebody that cares from his heart about the direction of this country,” Scott said.
Recently at a campaign stop in Georgia, Walker offered a meandering anecdote about a bull in a pasture with six cows.
“And three of them were pregnant — so you know you’ve got something going on,” Walker explained. “But all he cares about is getting his nose against the fence, looking at three other cows.”
Walker went on to explain that the bull jumped over the fence only to learn that he was accidentally pursuing other bulls. “So what I’m telling you — don’t think something is better somewhere else,” Walker concluded.
On Sunday, the Atlanta Press Club is set to host another Senate debate. Warnock plans to attend, as does Chase Oliver, a Libertarian candidate in the race. Walker has not confirmed that he’ll be there, according to the press club’s website.
On Monday, Walker is set to participate in a televised town hall hosted by Fox News’s Sean Hannity in Acworth, Ga., north of Atlanta.
Linskey reported from Washington.