WALKER ACKNOWLEDGES HE HAS A SECOND SON
Senate hopeful had not discussed child, now 10, publicly
Republican Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker acknowledged on Wednesday that he has a 10year-old son whom he has not previously mentioned publicly, a disclosure that draws renewed attention to his previous calls for Black men to play an active role in the lives of their children.
Walker’s campaign confirmed the existence of his son after The Daily Beast reported Tuesday that the boy’s mother had taken Walker to court in 2014 to establish paternity and to get child support payments.
“Herschel had a child years ago when he wasn’t married. He’s supported the child and continues to do so,” Walker campaign manager
Scott Paradise said in a statement Wednesday. “He’s proud of his children. To suggest that Herschel is ‘hiding’ the child because he hasn’t used him in his political campaign is offensive and absurd.”
Walker sends Christmas and birthday presents to the boy but has not played an active role in raising him, the
Daily Beast reported, citing an unnamed person close to the son’s family with direct knowledge of the events.
The Walker campaign did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press about his involvement in the boy’s life.
Walker has repeatedly criticized absentee fathers over the years, holding up his relationship with his older son, Christian Walker, whose mother is Walker’s former wife, Cindy Grossman. Walker has said he worked with his ex-wife and current wife to raise Christian.
“I want all African Americans to know, even though you may leave the mom, don’t leave the child,” Walker told WABE-TV’s “Love and Respect with Killer Mike” on May 27. “Continue to be a dad, continue to be a strong figure in that child’s life, because that happens, that happens. I said, ‘I’m going to continue to raise him, and be right there with him.’”
Walker faces Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in November in a critical battleground state that could be key to determining party control of the chamber. Warnock helped flip the Senate to Democrats after he and fellow Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff won a pair of runoff elections in early 2021.