Ex-pro football player and current Georgia Republican senate candidate Herschel Walker, who frequently points to fatherless homes as the cause of problems in America’s Black community, turns out to know something about the problem firsthand.
The Daily Beast reported on Tuesday that Walker has a second son with whom he does not have regular contact, born to a woman who had to sue to get him to recognize paternity. Walker’s reps have confirmed the child’s existence.
The Daily Beast says it has confirmed the paternity of the boy, now 10 years old, but it did not release his name because he is a minor.
TDB notes that in a 2020 interview, Walker said, “I want to apologize to the African-American community, because the fatherless home is a major, major problem,” and asserted he is “like a father to some of those kids that had never had fathers.”
According to The Daily Beast, Walker was sued by the child’s mother in 2013, with the lawsuit settled in 2014 with a declaration of paternity; Walker was forced by the court to pay child support at that point.
Since then, according to The Daily Beast, “Walker sends Christmas and birthday presents, he otherwise has not played an active parental role in raising his second son. The child also has not met or spoken with his half-brother.”
A spokesperson for Walker told The Daily Beast, “Herschel had a child years ago when he wasn’t married. He’s supported the child and continues to do so. He’s proud of his children. To suggest that Herschel is ‘hiding’ the child because he hasn’t used him in his political campaign is offensive and absurd.”
The Daily Beast also notes that Walker’s opponent, Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock, is dealing with a custody dispute himself; his ex-wife, TDB notes, is seeking to change his child support payment amount due to his salary increase as a U.S. Senator.
