On Thursday, POLITICO Playbook reported that Herschel Walker, the former football star running for Senate in Georgia with the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, is now facing attacks from his primary challenger, state Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, over his history of domestic violence — and it has some GOP strategists privately scared about his viability in the general election.
"Black ... is out with a new ad this week highlighting allegations of violence in Walker’s past, including incidents when he allegedly put a razor to his ex-wife’s throat, choked her and held a gun to her head," said the report. "'We have to wonder: how many more women are out there, and what stories might they tell?' the female narrator voice asks after listing other incidents in which women have gone to law enforcement to report threatening behavior by Walker."
Walker has denied some of these incidents and maintains he never broke the law, but admits his history of violent behavior toward his ex-wife and attributes it to dissociative identity disorder.
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"Black campaign spokesman Dan McLagan told Playbook that no one in the Republican Party has asked them to take these ads down. But privately, we’ve heard Republicans from across the political spectrum grumbling about spots like this, which they worry will boost Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in a state Republicans may need to flip in order to win back the Senate," said the report. "Still, it’s likely just a taste of what’s to come in the general election. And Black’s campaign has no plans to step back, pointing to research suggesting the more voters learn about Walker’s past, the more they turn on him."
Walker has come under controversy for several other reasons as well. Recent reports indicate he may have played fast and loose with profit and debt figures on his businesses, and he also gave a recent speech denying evolutionary science, demanding to know "why are there still apes?"