Rick Scott, Tom Cotton to rally in Ga. for embattled Herschel Walker

“The Democrats want to destroy this country, and they will destroy anyone who gets in their way. Today, it’s Herschel Walker, but tomorrow it’s the American people,” Scott said in a statement to The Washington Post announcing his trip. “I’m on Herschel’s team — they picked the wrong Georgian to mess with. I’m proud to stand with Herschel Walker and make sure Georgians know that he will always fight to protect them from the forces trying to destroy Georgia values.”

The mother of one of Walker’s children has said he ended a relationship with her in 2011 after she refused to have an abortion as she had done two years earlier, according to an account in the New York Times published Friday. The same woman previously told the Daily Beast that Walker paid for the first abortion, the report said. The Daily Beast reported on the woman’s account on Monday.

In a brief interview Saturday, the woman told The Post that those reports accurately described her experiences, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect her privacy and that of her child. The Post also reviewed a copy of a $700 check the woman says Walker wrote to reimburse her for the cost of the abortion. The check did not include a memo line with a stated purpose. It was deposited days after the date the woman said she had the abortion.

Walker — who is running for office on a platform that opposes abortion in all cases, without exceptions for rape or incest — has denied that he paid for an abortion or knew about it at the time. In an interview with NBC News published Friday night, Walker said he had only that day learned who specifically was accusing him of paying for an abortion, after his wife exchanged text messages with the woman.

Cotton spokeswoman Caroline Tabler said the senator also wants to show his support for Walker. “He believes Herschel will be a champion for Georgia who will vote to keep violent criminals in jail, for lower gas prices, and to stop Joe Biden’s inflationary policies,” she said.

Republicans have shown no signs of backing away from the race, with multiple staffers from the NRSC planning to travel to the state in the coming weeks. Part of a recent cut in NRSC advertising spending in the New Hampshire Senate race, which was announced Friday, is expected to be reallocated to Georgia, according to a person familiar with the plans, who requested anonymity to describe strategy.

Walker and Sen. Raphael G. Warnock (D-Ga.) are scheduled to meet Friday for their first televised debate.