Herschel Walker denies paying for abortion, but says it's "nothing to be ashamed of" had that happened

Herschel Walker, a candidate for the Georgia Senate, has categorically denied funding the abortion of a former girlfriend.

But on Thursday, the anti-abortion Republican said that even if he had, so what?

In a radio interview with conservative host Hugh Hewitt, Walker said, "I've already been forgiven," reiterating the theme of atonement his campaign has employed to try to downplay allegations of his previous behaviour.

"And why in the world would I not be forgiven of something like that if I've been forgiven?" Walker went on.

This week, Walker reportedly paid for an abortion for a girlfriend in 2009, according to The Daily Beast. According to the woman, who wishes to remain unnamed, Walker gave her a receipt and a get-well card at the time. Following Walker's denial of that claim, the woman asserted in a second Daily Beast article on Wednesday that she had an abortion as well as a child with him.

If there is "anything you need to be forgiven for vis-à-vis a woman whose name we do not know," Hewitt pressed Walker.

Walker claimed to have "no idea" who the woman is and that he did not need to be pardoned for anything related to her.

Walker said, "I hate to say I've been born again, but I have a new life." It's nothing to be ashamed of there, and I've been moving forward, so had that happened, I would have said it.

Walker's claim that having a secret child or paying for an abortion are not things to be ashamed of is puzzling given his criticism of absentee fathers and abortion. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), who is Walker's opponent, has been accused by his campaign of supporting "killing babies" because he is against a ban on abortions after 15 weeks.

Walker's adult son, Christian Walker, suggested that his father hadn't actually been forgiven after the abortion story broke this week. The candidate acknowledged this year that he also has three other younger children.

Christian Walker wrote on Twitter, "I don't care about someone who has a bad past and takes responsibility." But how dare you pretend to be some'moral, Christian, upright man' by lying. You've lived a life that has DESTROYED the lives of others. You're so rude.

In response to the revelations in the Daily Beast, Walker's campaign this week released a new ad in which he claimed to have overcome a mental health struggle and been "saved by grace."

Walker claimed in the advertisement that Warnock is a preacher who tells lies. He doesn't even think about atonement.