NRSC Chairman Rick Scott: Herschel Walker ‘Will Continue to Be a Leader’ in GOP for ‘Years to Come’

Brittany Bernstein
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National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman Rick Scott said Wednesday that despite a loss in the U.S. Senate runoff in Georgia, he believes Herschel Walker “will continue to be a leader in our party for years to come.” 

“Over the last year, I’ve gotten to know Herschel and have seen first-hand the movement he built in his home state,” Scott said in a statement. “Herschel’s story and message inspired millions in Georgia and across the country. While Herschel came up short last night, I know he will continue to be a leader in our party for years to come.”

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock defeated Walker 51.35 percent to 48.65 percent, or by more than 95,000 votes. 

Herschel, a political newcomer who was handpicked by former president Donald Trump, was the subject of criticisms about Republican “candidate quality” in the midterms, particularly after he was hit with an “October surprise” when the Daily Beast broke the news that a woman, who was later reported to be the mother of one of Walker’s children, said Walker paid her to abort a child they’d conceived in 2009. The woman, who has not been named publicly, said Walker again pushed her to get an abortion in 2011 when she became pregnant. She refused and the pair broke up soon after, the New York Times reported.

For his part, Walker has denied the allegation, calling it a “flat-out lie.”

Walker’s son, Christian Walker, claimed in a series of tweets on Tuesday that Trump called his father for months “DEMANDING that he run.”

“Everyone with a brain begged him: ‘PLEASE DON’T DO THIS. This is too dirty, you have an insane past… PLEASE DONT DO THIS,’” he tweeted “We got the middle finger. He ran.”

“Don’t beat women, hold guns to peoples heads, fund abortions then pretend your pro-life, stalk cheerleaders, leave your multiple minor children alone to chase more fame, lie, lie, lie, say stupid crap, and make a fool of your family … And then maybe you can win a senate seat,” the younger Walker said, adding in a separate tweet that “a boring old Republican could have won.”

Scott previously called the 2022 midterm elections a “complete disappointment.”

“Here’s what happened to us: Election Day, our voters didn’t show up, we didn’t get enough voters. It was a complete disappointment,” Scott said during an appearance on Fox News’s Hannity last mont . 

Scott, who predicted ahead of Election Day that the GOP would win at least 52 Senate seats, said at the time that polls were promising but GOP voter turnout lagged.

“I think we’ve got to reflect now, what didn’t happen?” Scott said. “I think we didn’t have enough of a positive message, we said everything about how bad the Biden agenda was — it’s bad, the Democrats are radical, but we have to have a plan of what we stand for.”

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