Mr. Walker, the Republican nominee for Senate in Georgia, has often criticized absentee fathers. But this week it has emerged that in addition to a son he often talks about, he has three other children.
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This article is part of our Midterms 2022 Daily Briefing
Herschel Walker is running against Senator Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, in one of this year’s most pivotal Senate races.
ATLANTA — Herschel Walker, the Republican nominee for Senate in Georgia, who has been a frequent critic of absentee fathers, especially in Black households, has acknowledged that he is the father of a second son he had not previously mentioned publicly, as well as an adult daughter who was born when he was in his early 20s.
The revelation, reported on Thursday by The Daily Beast, is the second this week about children Mr. Walker has fathered but did not publicly disclose. The outlet reported on Tuesday about a 10-year-old son of Mr. Walker’s with whom he is not in contact.
On Wednesday, Mr. Walker’s campaign shared with the news outlet a form that he filled out in 2018 in order for him to be appointed to former President Donald J. Trump’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition. It listed the names of four children: his 22-year-old son Christian, whom Mr. Walker has often talked about on the campaign trail; the 10-year-old son; a 13-year-old child; and an adult daughter.
The Daily Beast withheld the names of the children and their mothers out of privacy concerns.
“I have four children,” Mr. Walker said in a statement to The New York Times. “Three sons and a daughter. They’re not ‘undisclosed’ — they’re my kids. I support them all and love them all. I’ve never denied my children.”
He added: “Saying I hide my children because I don’t discuss them with reporters to win a campaign? That’s outrageous. I can take the heat, that’s politics — but leave my kids alone.”
The Daily Beast’s report on Tuesday about Mr. Walker’s 10-year-old son said that the child’s mother had sued Mr. Walker a year after giving birth to obtain a declaration of paternity and child support, and that the suit lasted until August 2014, when Mr. Walker was ordered to pay child support. The boy, by then more than 2 years old, took Mr. Walker’s last name.
It is unclear how involved Mr. Walker has been in his 13-year-old son and adult daughter’s lives. Asked if Mr. Walker had paid child support for them, his campaign manager, Scott Paradise, said that “he has honored all obligations.”
Mr. Walker has played an active role in the life of his eldest son, Christian, and has focused on their relationship in his campaign speeches and interviews. He has also criticized the absence of fathers and father figures in some Black households — what he described as “a major, major problem” in Black communities in a 2020 interview with the conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Mr. Walker is running against Senator Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, in what is widely expected to be one of this year’s most competitive and expensive Senate races as Republicans seek to wrest back control of the chamber.
Mr. Warnock is currently involved in child custody litigation with his ex-wife, who has sued to adjust the terms of their agreement and have his child support payments “recalculated.” Mr. Warnock’s campaign declined to comment for this article.
The news this week about Mr. Walker’s children comes after a series of reports detailing his exaggerations and outright falsehoods about his life before entering politics. He has falsely claimed that he worked as a member of law enforcement in Georgia and with the F.B.I. in Quantico, Va., according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
He has also spoken falsely about graduating from college, which he did not do, and CNN reported that he had even lied about whether he lied about graduating from college. He has also falsely claimed that he graduated “in the top 1 percent of my graduating class.”
Source: nytimes.com
