Those personal details come on top of stories detailing Walker’s exaggerations of business achievements and philanthropic efforts. Just months ago, also after a Daily Beast story, Walker acknowledged the existence of three children he’d not discussed publicly before, one now indirectly identified as the child of the woman who said she had the abortion. In Walker, conservatives face another political novice who characterizes abortion as a woman “killing her baby,” only to have allegations that he paid to end a pregnancy he helped conceive. Trump, who urged Walker to run for the Senate, won the GOP presidential nomination and the White House in 2016 despite being twice divorced, previously supporting abortion rights and same-sex marriage, and being captured on tape bragging about “grabbing” women by their genitalia. Indeed, Walker presents the latest balancing test for religious and cultural conservatives who must weigh their preference for Republican rule against an individual candidate accused of not reflecting their values. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t getting calls from Republicans who are very concerned and struggling with what they’re going to do in the voting booth,” Martha Zoller, a popular radio host in north Georgia and one-time congressional candidate, said in an interview. But the latest turns have rattled some party faithful in Georgia, especially after The Daily Beast’s follow-up report undercut Walker’s blanket denials. Walker’s tempest hasn’t shaken support among Republicans in Washington, where Senate control supersedes nearly all concerns in a competitive race. Raphael Warnock, with the outcome potentially determining which party controls the Senate for the final two years of President Joe Biden’s term. Walker is in a tight contest with Democratic Sen. The allegations have rocked one of the nation’s most important Senate matchups. And he has yet to clarify why he initially said he had no idea what woman could be making such an abortion claim, only to have The Daily Beast follow up Wednesday with the woman saying she had had a long relationship with Walker that included a child he knows. Walker promised in the hours after a Monday report to sue the news outlet, but has not followed up with confirmation he has done so. He went on to repeat: “This abortion thing is false. “You’re here because the Democrats are desperate to hold on to this seat here, and they’re desperate to make this race about my family.” I do,” he told reporters after his first public campaign speech since The Daily Beast’s initial report Monday.

Tatiana schwartz