Why Joe Biden Is Pulling His Punches on Herschel Walker’s Scandals
Since news broke that Herschel Walker, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Georgia, had paid for a girlfriend’s abortion in 2009, Democrats have been hitting Walker—and those who defend him—for hypocrisy on one of his fundamental political positions.
But nearly two weeks since the revelations, first reported by The Daily Beast, that the mother of one of Herschel Walker’s children had terminated a pregnancy at his request, one person has stayed conspicuously silent on the subject: President Joe Biden.
Unlike nearly every other high-profile member of his party, Biden, who has majorly stepped up his pitch to the Democratic base in recent weeks, has made no reference to Walker at party fundraisers, in engagements with reporters, or at public events. According to Biden allies, longtime advisers and party strategists, the decision not to nationalize Walker’s past actions is likely part political calculus—to avoid injecting himself into a local race—and part personal preference—to avoid turning a painful family crisis into campaign fodder.