Following the revelation that Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker allegedly paid for his ex-girlfriend’s abortion despite presenting himself as aggressively anti-abortion, Republicans have been doubling down in their support of him, even if it means having to scramble to move their purported moral goalposts to do so.
At least one major anti-abortion Super PAC immediately stated their continued support for Walker, saying they believed him when he denied the story. Former NRA spokesperson and current right-wing radio host Dana Loesch admitted she straight-up does not care if the story is true, saying, “I don’t care if Herschel Walker paid to abort endangered baby eagles. I want control of the Senate.” When asked if he still supported Walker’s campaign following the report, fellow terrible Republican Josh Hawley simply said (via a spokesperson), “Yes,” without bothering to eloborate.
And then there’s Sean Hannity, who had Walker on his Fox News the same night after The Daily Beast published their report. Walker spent that evening denying the story but the following night, Hannity seemed to switch from denial to making excuses and shifting blame.
“There is a family conflict with Herschel Walker that has been very public, which I think is sad for any family,” he said on his show Tuesday evening. “But there is also the same thing for Raphael Warnock. And as you look at Georgia, they are going to look at both of these candidates. How will they be reacting to all of this news? And do you think at the end of the day it’s going to come down to issues?”
Hannity did not clarify what he meant when he said Warnock, the Democratic incumbent, is dealing with “the same thing” as Walker. He also didn’t say what he meant by “issues” and if abortion was one of them—which is odd since voters have proven that it very much is an important issue driving people to the polls. What makes all of this even more absurd is that the person he was talking to—the person he chose to have on to discuss the matter—was Newt Gingrich.
“I think he’s a remarkable person,” Gingrich said of Walker. “I think he’s the most important Senate candidate in the country because he’ll do more to change the Senate just by the sheer presence, by his confidence, by his deep commitment to Christ.”
Gingrich, the one-time Speaker of the House, is a Georgia Republican but that’s not the only thing he has in common with Herschel Walker. Gingrich famously left all of his consecutive wives for women he was having affairs with, including allegedly telling one of those wives he wanted a divorce while she was in the hospital recovering from surgery to treat cancer. So no, I don’t think his opinion carries very much weight in discussing the merits of a man who tried to sell himself as a proponent of family values, all while his own (extremely conservative) son has been fervently calling out his hypocrisy, absenteeism, and alleged abuse online.
Gingrich also seemed to be trying to explain away Walker’s erratic behavior as the result of brain injuries from his pro-football career—which is almost certainly an issue but probably not the slam-dunk explanation Gingrich seems to think it is.
(image: screencap)
