Georgia's Republican Lt. Gov. Geoffry Duncan has spoken out in opposition to Herschel Walker, the present GOP Senate nominee within the state. Duncan criticized the Republican Social gathering and stated he is not voting for Walker after The Each day Beast reported Walker paid for an ex-girlfriend to get an abortion, which the candidate has denied.
Walker, a former NFL participant, has voiced his opposition to abortion on the marketing campaign path and helps a nationwide ban on abortions after 15 weeks.
The unnamed lady who claimed Walker paid for her 2009 abortion additionally stated she is the mom of one in every of his youngsters, whom he hasn't publicly spoken about, The Each day Beast reported Wednesday. CBS Information has not independently verified the report, which Walker has flatly denied. He additionally continues to disclaim that he is aware of who the girl is.
Georgia's midterm elections can be held on Nov. 8, when Walker will face Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, who made historical past in 2021 as Georgia's first Black senator after defeating then-incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler in a Senate runoff election.
"I am not voting for Sen. Warnock, and like numerous different Georgians, Herschel Walker has not but earned my vote," Duncan informed The Atlanta Journal-Structure after The Each day Beast report final week. "He is received 4 weeks left to vary our minds."
Many Republicans have continued to assist their nominee. Republican Nationwide Conference Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel known as the report "an try to distract from Warnock's document of failure leading to rising prices and out-of-control crime."
President Donald Trump is associates with Walker, who appeared on a season of "The Apprentice." Trump put out an announcement on his Reality Social platform defending Walker, saying partly: "They're attempting to destroy a person who has true greatness in his future, simply as he had athletic greatness in his previous."
Walker's son Christian, nevertheless, stated he was "performed" supporting his father's marketing campaign after the preliminary Each day Beast story. "[H]ow DARE YOU LIE and act as if you are some 'ethical, Christian, upright man.' You have lived a lifetime of DESTROYING different peoples lives. How dare you," Christian Walker tweeted earlier this week. Herschel Walker says he loves his son unconditionally.
Georgia's Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who's up for reelection, has largely averted talking about Walker, however Duncan has continued to criticize the occasion for selecting Walker because the nominee.
"Sadly, Republicans regarded round to see who Donald Trump supported and he was a well-known soccer participant and so he grew to become our nominee and now we're paying the value for that," Duncan stated in an interview with CNN final week.
Duncan stated he and different Republicans in Georgia have "nowhere to go proper now" by way of selecting who to vote for.
"[Republicans] let down all the nation," Duncan stated. "Donald Trump led us down a rabbit path post-election as a result of he was too consumed attempting to avoid wasting face after his election. And he ran us down a path and we screwed up."
Duncan additionally wrote an op-ed for CNN, additional criticizing the Republican Social gathering for attempting to regain a majority within the Senate with Walker, an "untested and unproven first-time candidate."
He stated whereas Walker has denied the claims and threatened authorized motion, the general public's criticism of him was intense and Duncan is not sure if Walker can win the election.
"If we would like the American public to take us [Republicans] significantly, we have to take step one by nominating candidates they need to take significantly," Duncan wrote. "That course of goes past movie star or fame. It requires leaders able to profitable elections by articulating a conservative imaginative and prescient for governing."
CBS Information has reached out to Duncan for additional remark and is awaiting response.