The Georgia Senate is seen as too important to the party’s hopes to abandon the former Heisman Trophy winner’s error-strewn campaign.
Florida Sen. Rick Scott, chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, will travel to Georgia on Tuesday to stump for GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker, whose campaign is engulfed in an evolving scandal after reports that he asked a woman to have two abortions.
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The Georgia Senate seat, currently held by Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, is crucial to GOP hopes of controlling Congress and the latest developments are testing conservatives' commitment to winning at all costs.
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“The Democrats want to destroy this country, and they will try to destroy anyone who gets in their way,” Scott said over the weekend in a statement. “Today it’s Herschel Walker, but tomorrow it’s the American people.”
“I’m proud to stand with Herschel Walker and make sure Georgians know that he will always fight to protect them from the forces trying to destroy Georgia values and Georgia’s economy, led by Raphael Warnock.”
The Daily Beast reported last week that Walker paid for a woman to have an abortion in 2009. The woman also told The New York Times that Walker tried convincing her to have a second abortion two years later, but she refused and gave birth to a son, who is one of Walker’s four children.
As a candidate, Walker supports a full ban on abortion, with no exceptions.
Also heading to Georgia on Tuesday to back Walker is Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, and over the weekend a chorus of Republicans admitted they plan to stick with Walker for no other reason than the seat is too important to their chances of controlling the chamber – an admission that showcases the difficulty the Republican Party finds itself in the run-up to Election Day. Though polls are tight, the Red Wave they once anticipated appears to be unlikely. In many ways, it’s a problem of their own making.
Walker has yet to admit any wrongdoing, vacillating between denying the story altogether – “flat-out lie,” he said initially – to asking the Holy Father for forgiveness, depending on who is interviewing him.
“Had that happened, I would have said it, because it’s nothing to be ashamed of there,” Walker said in an interview with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt last week when asked whether there is anything he needs to be forgiven for.
“You know, people have done that, but I know nothing about it,” he continued. “And if I knew about it, I would be honest and talk about it, but I know nothing about that.”
At a rally over the weekend, Warnock told reporters that Walker “has trouble with the truth,” but steered clear of addressing the allegations directly.
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“It’s up to Georgia voters. It’s not up to him, it’s not up to me,” Warnock said. “We do know that my opponent has trouble with the truth. And we’ll see how all this plays out, but I am focused squarely on the health care needs of my constituents, including reproductive health care.”
Walker is scheduled to face off against Warnock in a debate on Friday evening, where the issue is set to surface again. The polling average from RealClearPolitics shows Warnock up by 3.8.
But if the actions of Scott and other GOP leaders in the wake of the bombshell reporting are indicative of anything – there’s little to nothing else Walker could say during the debate that would result in the Republican Party withdrawing its support. As conservative commentators were quick to point out in the immediate aftermath of the Daily Beast’s report, the goal is to win at any cost.
“Does this change anything,” asked Dana Loesch, the former spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association. “I am concerned about one thing, and one thing only at this point. I don't care if Herschel Walker paid to abort endangered baby eagles. I want control of the Senate."
And while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who blessed Walker’s campaign with an endorsement during the Republican primary, has been silent on the most recent developments, the Senate Leadership Fund – the biggest Senate Republican super PAC that’s aligned with McConnell – is continuing with more than $34 million in television ads in the state in support of Walker.
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