A day after confirming he has a 10-year-old son, U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker on Thursday acknowledged fathering two additional children he hasn’t spoken about publicly.
“I have four children. Three sons and a daughter. They’re not ‘undisclosed’ — they’re my kids,” Walker said in a statement released by his campaign. “I support them all and love them all. I’ve never denied my children.”
The story, first reported by The Daily Beast, has raised questions of hypocrisy because of Walker’s past statements decrying absent fathers, particularly in the Black community.
On the campaign trail and in interviews, Walker talks frequently about Christian Walker, the 22-year-old son he shares with his first wife, Cindy Grossman. But The Atlanta Journal-Constitution could find no public references he made to the other children, born to three different women, before this week.
Walker has an adult daughter, born when he was a star running back at the University of Georgia, a 13-year-old son and a 10-year-old son. The mother of the 10-year-old sued Walker in 2013, a year after giving birth, to obtain a declaration of paternity and child support, according to court records. It is unclear what role Walker has played in the children’s lives.
In a form provided to the federal government when he was appointed to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition by President Donald Trump in 2018, Walker listed four children. The form is not publicly accessible but was provided to the AJC.
“I confirmed this when I was appointed to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, I just chose not to use them as props to win a political campaign,” Walker’s statement said. “What parent would want their child involved in garbage, gutter politics like this?”
Walker is running to unseat U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat. In a year in which the GOP has a sizable advantage heading into the midterm elections, polls have shown the Georgia contest is a toss-up. The winner could determine control of the chamber.
Warnock has also had child support and custody issues, but they involve two children he co-parents with his ex-wife. In a legal filing earlier this year, Ouluye Ndoye said that because Warnock’s income has increased, she was entitled to additional child support. She also wants increased custody of their two children so she can spend time outside the state to complete a program at Harvard University.
AJC election coverage
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is committed to ensuring that Georgians are fully educated about the candidates for the U.S. Senate and others who seek public office. Voters must make informed choices when electing our leaders. It is critical that voters know where each candidate stands on important issues, what moneyed interests might influence them and whether the candidates have behaved ethically in the past. Today’s focus is on candidate Herschel Walker. The newspaper will, over the course of this election cycle, focus on each of the candidates representing all parties.
In our coverage of the race for the U.S. Senate, the AJC newsroom will:
- Conduct deep background investigations on the major candidates with an eye toward past behavior and any potential conflicts that might raise questions on or provide insight into how a candidate might perform.
- Publish profiles of each candidate aimed at understanding each candidate’s personal life, background, influences and qualifications.
- Attend forums and debates throughout the election cycle so you know how the candidates are staking out their positions and answering urgent questions.
To access the newspaper’s ongoing coverage of politics, visit ajc.com/politics.
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