Sens. Rick Scott and Tom Cotton to campaign with Herschel Walker amid abortion allegations
Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) are set to travel to Georgia to campaign with Herschel Walker as the GOP Senate candidate faces political headwinds amid allegations he paid for a woman to get an abortion.
The high-profile trip is an attempt to salvage Walker’s campaign, which has been damaged over the last week after it was reported he paid for his former girlfriend to get an abortion while the two were dating in 2009 and then later urged her to get another abortion in 2011. Walker has come under intense scrutiny since the reports surfaced because the Republican has campaigned as a staunch anti-abortion candidate.
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Scott and Cotton are planning to travel to Georgia to campaign with Walker on Tuesday, hoping to boost his campaign in a Senate race that could determine which party takes control of Congress in November.
“The Democrats want to destroy this country, and they will destroy anyone who gets in their way. Today, it’s Herschel Walker, but tomorrow it’s the American people,” Scott told the Washington Post in a statement. “I’m on Herschel’s team — 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.”
Scott and Cotton are two of several high-profile Republicans who have come to Walker’s defense amid the abortion allegations, arguing the claims are being used as political “smears” to harm his campaign. Former President Donald Trump, who encouraged the former NFL star to seek public office, released a statement accusing the media of “trying to destroy a man who has true greatness, just as he had athletic greatness in his past” and applauded him for denying the accusation.
Walker has denied the reports, arguing he doesn’t know the accuser despite the woman later claiming she is the mother of one of his three sons he previously acknowledged having out of wedlock. The Republican candidate later told NBC News on Friday that he only learned who his accuser was after his wife exchanged text messages with the woman.
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The allegations threaten to derail Walker’s bid against Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), who was barely leading the Republican in the polls before the reports surfaced. However, recent polling found Warnock widening his lead over Walker, with one poll from SurveyUSA showing Warnock with a 12-point lead.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Scott’s and Cotton’s offices for comment.
