Herschel Walker’s story continues to make no sense.
After The Daily Beast reported on Monday that Walker and an ex-girlfriend had an abortion in 2009, Walker said he had no idea who that woman could be.
That prompted the woman to offer additional details about her relationship to Walker and why her accusation is so credible. She agreed to publicly disclose that she and Walker also had a child together.
ADVERTISEMENT
For most people, that would seem to make it difficult to continue with the defense that you don’t know who this woman could be—but not for Walker.
Against all odds, he repeatedly said Thursday that he didn’t know who the woman was, and he suggested her claims that he is the father of one of her children was false.
The problem with that story? Walker already confirmed to The Daily Beast in June that this woman was, in fact, the mother to one of his kids.
Asked on Thursday during a rambling press conference whether he’d reached out to any of the mothers of his children, Walker replied, “Why do I need to?”
The reporter explained that The Daily Beast had reported that the woman who says he paid for her to abort their child was also the mother of one of his children. Walker then implied that the woman would have to be the mother of a child he had not yet acknowledged.
“Because of the article I had more kids. That’s why I haven’t reached out to anyone, because I said no. And that’s what I mean when I said no, I said it’s not correct, that’s a lie. And that’s what I mean, when that’s a lie,” Walker said.
But that explanation doesn't make sense. Months ago, Walker himself publicly confirmed to The Daily Beast that this woman is the mother of one of his children. The Daily Beast independently confirmed the claim with a family court clerk and a court order declaring Walker the father, citing a DNA test.
Walker’s reply was possibly accurate in one dimension, however. He still has not contacted the woman after the story first broke.
Walker had previously tried to deny The Daily Beast’s reports on the abortion. “There’s no truth to this or any other Daily Beast report," he said.
But that’s a lie by his own admission. Walker has confirmed not just one Daily Beast report, but two. The outspoken critic of absentee fathers in the Black community has in all acknowledged that he has fathered four children by four different women.
His adult son, Christian Walker, has claimed that his father was not present in any of their lives, and the mother who also aborted one of his children told The Daily Beast on Wednesday that he wasn’t around for their son.
“He didn’t accept responsibility for the kid we did have together, and now he isn’t accepting responsibility for the one that we didn’t have,” she said. “That says so much about how he views the role of women in childbirth, versus his own. And now he wants to take that choice away from other women and couples entirely.”
After The Daily Beast reported earlier this week that the football legend urged a woman in 2009 to abort her child and later reimbursed her for the procedure, the Georgia Senate hopeful vehemently denied the story as a “flat-out lie” and claimed he had no idea who the anonymous woman was.
The Daily Beast followed up by reporting that not only had he paid for the woman’s abortion but that he had fathered another child with her. The woman, meanwhile, said that Walker’s attempts to spin the report as an attack from desperate Democrats sounded ridiculous and that it didn’t really shock her.
Meanwhile, hours after telling conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that there was “nothing to be ashamed of” for paying for an abortion despite being extremely anti-abortion now (all while still denying the story), he held an election event in Georgia.
After speaking for a short time and receiving some mild applause from gathered voters, Walker decided to hold a short gaggle with reporters on the scene. And it was an absolute trainwreck as his absurd explanations and denials were all over the place.
Walker was also asked about his comments to Hewitt and how he claimed that he shouldn’t be ashamed for personally paying for an abortion, only for the ex-running back to insist that he was “talking about something totally different” and that he meant his ex-wife had nothing to do with what that woman said.
“I said this here, the abortion thing is false,” he continued. “It's a lie, and that's why I said that anything to happened to my ex-wife or what Christian was talking about, I don't know. but as I said, there's nothing to be ashamed of.”
Eventually, a reporter pressed Walker on his reaction to the mother of his kids and son saying that he’s lying and that they no longer trusted him.
“Just like what I said, the Democrats are desperate for this seat and so’s this reporter,” he bellowed. “They’re very desperate for this seat and I love my family and I always love my family. I'm going to win this race!”Walker would go on and dismiss some of the criticism he’s received from Georgia Republicans in recent days before exclaiming that “the Georgia people need a winner” before walking out of the presser.
