Sens Rick Scott, Tom Cotton to stump for Walker after abortion payment accusation: ‘I’m on Herschel’s team’

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Rick Scott, the chair of the Senate GOP’s election arm, and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., will travel to Georgia for a Tuesday event supporting Herschel Walker, the first major campaign stop following accusations that the Republican Senate nominee paid for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion a decade ago.

Walker has denied that he paid $700 a woman to get an abortion or had a child with her, and further reports have alleged that he encouraged the woman to have a second abortion, which she refused to do. But as the accusations trickle in, Republicans have rallied around Walker as he runs to defeat incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in a crucial midterm race that could determine whether the GOP retakes control of the Senate.

“The Democrats want to destroy this country, and they will try to destroy anyone who gets in their way,” Scott, the junior senator from Florida and chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

“Today it’s Herschel Walker, but tomorrow it’s the American people. I’m on Herschel’s team — and they picked the wrong Georgian to mess with. 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,” Scott said.

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The Walker campaign event is scheduled to take place Tuesday afternoon in Carrollton, Georgia.

On Saturday, Fox News confirmed reports that Walker had fired his communications director on suspicion of leaking information to media.

After the Daily Beast published the allegations that Walker paid for an abortion, the GOP Senate nominee and football legend denied any knowledge of the woman or her abortion in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News. 

“It is a flat-out lie, and now you know how important this seat is,” Walker said on Fox News’ “Hannity” on Monday night.

An unidentified woman told Politico that Walker had urged her to get an abortion after she had become pregnant while they were allegedly dating, and that he had reimbursed her $700 for the procedure. The Daily Beast cited interviews with a woman who said she had a bank receipt showing Walker’s alleged payment and a “get well” card that he reportedly had sent her.

The report said the woman provided proof of her intimate relationship with Walker and that they corroborated details in the woman’s story with a close friend who said she had taken care of her in the days following the alleged abortion. Fox News has not verified the report.

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The New York Times claims to have verified the woman’s account on its own, without identifying her, and reported that Walker encouraged the woman to have a second abortion, which she allegedly refused to do. The woman claimed that Walker only occasionally sent gifts or court-ordered child support payments for her son. Fox has not verified that report.

Warnock, who won a Jan. 5, 2021, runoff election for a partial term in the Senate, has not used the accusation that Walker paid for an abortion in the campaign, though he has made access to abortion part of his Senate campaign.

“What we are hearing about my opponent is disturbing. And I think the people of Georgia have a real choice about who they think is ready to represent them in the United States Senate,” Warnock said of the accusations against Walker.

Warnock has called himself a “pro-choice pastor” and promised to protect a woman’s right to choose an abortion. Walker has been vocal about his pro-life positions and secured an endorsement from National Right to Life Committee in April.

Walker and Warnock are scheduled to debate in Savannah on Thursday. The debate will be hosted by Nextar and will come less than a month before the Nov. 8 midterm elections.