美国国家公共电台 NPR--Second woman says Ga. Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker paid for abortion

Second woman says Ga. Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker paid for abortion¹

Transcript²

A second woman is accusing Georgia Senate nominee³ Herschel Walker of pressuring her into having an abortion, calling the Republican a "hypocrite" for campaigning against abortion access while allegedly pushing her to get one in 1993.

"Herschel Walker is a hypocrite and he is not fit to be a U.S. senator," an anonymous⁵ woman who went by the name Jane Doe said in a Wednesday press conference. "We don't need people in the U.S. Senate who profess⁶ one thing and do another."

The woman is declining to share her identity out of safety concerns, according to her attorney Gloria Allred, and came forward after hearing Walker deny allegations from another woman who said he paid for her to have an abortion. NPR has not been able to independently corroborate⁷ either woman's claims.

Jane Doe said she had an affair with Walker while he was married to his first wife Cindy Grossman from 1987 until the alleged⁴ abortion in 1993, and claimed Walker drove her to an abortion clinic and paid for the procedure after she backed out of an initial attempt.

"I went to a clinic in Dallas, but I simply couldn't go through with it," the woman said. "I left the clinic in tears. When I told Herschel what had happened, he was upset and said that he was going to go back with me to the clinic the next day for me to have the abortion."

The woman, who said she is a registered independent but voted for former President Donald Trump⁸ in 2016 and 2020, said she was motivated to speak out after seeing Walker deny allegations made in a series of stories by The Daily Beast that he pressured a then-girlfriend to have two abortions⁹.

"Particularly, I saw him state that the woman's claims were not true because he never signed any cards using the letter 'H,'" she said. "I knew that was not true because he had often signed letters to me using H."

During a press conference, Allred shared several items that Doe had from her relationship with Walker, including a photo of Walker in her hotel room while he was at a training camp in Minnesota, letters from Walker to the woman and her parents, and an alleged voicemail that Walker left while in France for the Winter Olympics in 1992.

"What I can do is, I'm trying to call you back while I'm here, but I have to call you, like, early in the morning cause it's late at night there when I'm up and the restaurant is open," Walker allegedly says in a voicemail recording¹⁰. "But I keep trying to call you. I want to say I love you."

Walker has continued to deny any and all claims he paid for an abortion, including on the campaign trail Wednesday. Just before the second woman's allegations became public, Walker deflected¹¹ questions from reporters by dismissing the story before specific claims had been made.

"You know, guys, I'm done with this foolishness," he said after an event in northeast Georgia. "I've already told people this is a lie."

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was campaigning with Walker and is one of several Senate Republicans who have made the trek¹² to Georgia in hopes of winning the majority this November, attacked Allred and tried to downplay the accusations¹³.

"People here are not going to tolerate it, there's going to be a backlash in Georgia," Graham said. "This is coming from L.A. It's coming from an activist¹⁴ Democratic celebrity¹⁵ lawyer who went to the 2016 convention for Hillary Clinton, and people in Georgia are not this dumb."

Walker's blanket denial of ever paying for an abortion comes as the first-time candidate has sought to walk back his hardline stance on abortion in a state that has recently seen top races decided¹⁶ by tens of thousands of votes.

The Trump-backed candidate previously¹⁷ expressed support for a federal abortion ban with no exceptions for rape¹⁸, incest or the life of the mother, but falsely claimed in a recent debate that he always preferred Georgia's new law that effectively bans most abortions after cardiac activity is detected, around six weeks into pregnancy¹⁹.

Walker has lagged in fundraising and most polls to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, who has largely framed the abortion stories as part of a pattern of false statements and exaggerations surrounding Walker's campaign, like overstating his personal backstory and business accomplishments²⁰.

"We know Herschel Walker has a problem with the truth, a problem answering questions, and a problem taking responsibility for his actions," Warnock's deputy campaign manager Rachel Petri said in a statement. "Today's new report is just the latest example of a troubling pattern we have seen play out again and again and again. Herschel Walker shouldn't be representing Georgians in the U.S. Senate."

It is not yet clear how the allegations about Walker or his vehement²¹ denials will affect the Senate race, especially as more than one million Georgians have already cast their ballots²².

Polling conducted after the initial stories about Walker's first alleged abortion payment saw support for the Republican slightly decline, though oftentimes within the margin²³ of error. A recent Monmouth survey of Georgia voters already found a majority of voters have an unfavorable opinion of Walker, including a notable number of Republicans.

If no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, the race would head to a Dec. 6 runoff that could once again decide control of the U.S. Senate.

1 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

4 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

5 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

6 profess   

v.声称，冒称，以...为业，正式接受入教，表明信仰

参考例句：

• I profess that I was surprised at the news.我承认这消息使我惊讶。
• What religion does he profess?他信仰哪种宗教？

7 corroborate   

v.支持，证实，确定

参考例句：

• He looked at me anxiously,as if he hoped I'd corroborate this.他神色不安地看着我，仿佛他希望我证实地的话。
• It appeared that what he said went to corroborate my account.看来他所说的和我叙述的相符。

8 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

9 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

10 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

11 deflected   

偏离的

参考例句：

• The ball deflected off Reid's body into the goal. 球打在里德身上反弹进球门。
• Most of its particles are deflected. 此物质的料子大多是偏斜的。

12 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

13 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

14 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

15 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

16 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

17 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

18 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

19 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

20 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

21 vehement   

adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的

参考例句：

• She made a vehement attack on the government's policies.她强烈谴责政府的政策。
• His proposal met with vehement opposition.他的倡导遭到了激烈的反对。

22 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。