Nationwide we are preparing for the conclusion of the 2022 midterm elections, with Democrats and Republicans displaying the differing beliefs they support. Reproductive rights and access to abortions are some of the hotbed issues argued between the parties. With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, many Democrats are running on the platform that these rights need to become federally protected, while many running for office as Republicans are fighting to support the overturning. One of the many Republicans running under a strict “pro-life” platform is Georgia Senate nominee and former National Football League player Herschel Walker. Still, recent controversies have shown that Walker may not truly abide by the ideals he is promoting and has put his checkered past into the spotlight. 

On two separate occasions — Oct. 3, 2022, and Oct. 25, 2022 — women who have previously been in relationships with Walker have revealed he had pressured them into receiving abortions. According to a report from The Daily Beast, an anonymous woman has revealed that Walker pressured her and paid for her abortion in 2009, with her proof of said accusation being a receipt for a $575 medical bill and a check for $700 that he had later sent her.

During a radio interview after the initial accusations, Walker claimed, “This here, the abortion thing, is false. It’s a lie.” After denying the first accusations, a second woman claimed that Walker had pressured and paid for her to get an abortion in 1993 while he was married to his first wife, Cindy Grossman. 

Walker’s hypocritical stance on abortion and his forceful tactics to make women receive them are not his only controversies. According to Inside Edition, in 2001in Irving, Texas, Walker’s home was subject to a wellness check by the police involving a domestic dispute with Grossman. The officer who had initially responded to the call claimed that “You could hear sirens coming from all around the city, trying to get there as quickly as they could, because we thought it was a very threatening situation,” and “She was giving us a credible story that he had threatened her with a firearm.” Though Walker has adamantly disputed these claims. In multiple interviews, Walker has deflected questions telling interviewers to read his 2008 memoir “Breaking Free: My Life with Dissociative Identity Disorder,” and that all the relevant information can be found within the book; however, the book fails to mention the allegation that he had held a gun to his ex-wife’s head as well as multiple other alleged violent altercations throughout his life. Walker repeatedly brushes off his allegations and blames much of it due to his struggle with mental illness.

In light of the allegations, Walker’s son and social media influencer, Christian Walker — who was present during the 2001 wellness check — released a series of tweets on Oct. 3, 2022. In these tweets, Christian said, “You’re not a ‘family man’ when you left us to bang a bunch of women, threatened to kill us, and had us move over 6 times in 6 months running from your violence,” and “how DARE YOU LIE and act as though you’re some ‘moral, Christian, upright man.’ You’ve lived a life of DESTROYING other peoples lives. How dare you.” 

Herschel Walker has a long past of violence, abuse, lying and hypocrisy that has been corroborated by multiple women and family members. Everyone, despite party affiliation, must ensure that a dangerous man such as Walker does not assume an elected position. Throughout his life, Walker has used his power, fame and influence to manipulate women. If given a position in government, Walker would continue to push his hypocritical ideals and further escape the consequences of his spotty past.