That didn’t take long. Less than 24 hours after The Daily Beast’s explosive report about Herschel Walker allegedly paying for an abortion, Republicans and anti-abortion rights groups are rallying behind the former football star turned politician.
Ralph Reed, the former executive director of the Christian Coalition, told The New York Times that “he expected ‘100 percent’ that evangelical Christians would stick with Mr. Walker.” He’s probably right. Reed then compared the Walker revelations to Donald Trump’s Access Hollywood video, saying, “We’ve seen this movie before. They’re trying to take down a good man.”
He’s right, again. We have seen this movie before. In 2016, we saw conclusive video evidence of Donald Trump saying vulgar things, including talking about grabbing women by their privates. Trump also said—again, this was on tape—“I did try and f*ck her. She was married.” Likewise, in 2022, we have receipts that allege Walker is likewise guilty of something that Christian conservatives ought not—but seem destined to—support or, at least, tolerate.
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For what it’s worth, Walker’s own son, Christian, is calling out the hypocrisy. “Family values people: He has four kids, four different women. Wasn’t in the house raising one of them. He was out having sex with other women,” he said. “Do you care about family values?”
The answer? No.
It’s worth pointing out that Walker strongly denies the allegations, even though his own conservative son obviously believes the evidence. It’s also worth noting that 1) Walker’s ex-wife has accused him of holding a gun to her head and threatening to kill her, and 2) he has acknowledged fathering multiple illegitimate children. This is to say that conservatives never should have supported Walker, even before this latest bombshell allegation.
Likewise, the thrice-married casino magnate Trump had an incredibly checkered past long before the Access Hollywood video dropped. And after becoming president, it was revealed that he had allegedly had sex with a porn star just months after his wife, Melania Trump, gave birth to their child. This revelation, like the Access Hollywood video, barely made a dent in his support.
Trump, of course, famously declared that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose any voters. As it turns out, he was probably right.
An equally bold claim would have been for a Republican to boast that he could pay for an abortion and still maintain the support of Christian conservatives. Today, based on the lack of conservative outrage greeting the Herschel Walker news, I suspect that both claims are equally true. And this, of course, is equal parts horrifying and stunning.
At the risk of sounding trite, this situation is especially hypocritical for a party that (rightly, in my opinion) felt Bill Clinton deserved impeachment and argued that character mattered.
Let’s be honest. Character doesn’t matter. Today’s Christian conservatives and the Republican Party have concluded that we are in a war with the left. And in wars, we do not have any room for niceties like policing our own side—or being concerned with silly things like character. Warriors have to do gruesome and immoral things sometimes.
This explanation can (and has) been used to cover a multitude of sins. Let’s be clear. If I lived in Georgia, I would not vote for Raphael Warnock, whose policies—if he had his way—would take my taxes to fund the very thing Herschel Walker paid for.
Likewise, I could not vote for Herschel Walker, someone who personally represents all of the bacchanalian libertine values that conservatives ostensibly oppose.
But here’s the thing: Raphael Warnock cannot undermine the integrity of Christian conservatives or the Republican Party. He cannot tarnish our reputation or cause us to sacrifice our values for the sake of winning. Herschel Walker already has. And by sticking with him, many ostensibly anti-abortion rights groups and the Republican Party, including the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), are saying that there is literally nothing a Republican can do that would forfeit their support.
The fact that Walker fathered several illegitimate children and allegedly paid for an abortion is not a crime, but it certainly doesn’t qualify him to be a U.S. senator (not that he has any other credentials). Is this what we want from the party of Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan? Apparently so.
Actions have consequences, and by allowing Trump to hijack the Republican Party, conservatives sent a message loud and clear that values don’t matter. What matters are things like celebrity, image, and a reputation for fighting. Herschel Walker being a 2022 Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate is yet more proof that Idiocracy was a documentary. And the fact that Christian conservative groups and the Republican Party are immediately rallying to support him demonstrates that the conservative movement is decadent and depraved.
So go ahead, conservative Republican politicians. Grab women by their privates. Pay for abortions. It doesn’t matter what you do. Character doesn’t count. Family values are for suckers.
