At this point, the GOP has been in bed with Herschel Walker for far too long to abandon their support of the wannabe Georgia senator now. Put a gun to his wife’s head? Sure, he’s done it. But brushed it off as something that happened more than 15 years ago, then invoked Jesus. Now, amidst revelations that the fiercely anti-abortion advocate may have paid for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion — with a check, inside a thoughtful get-well card — Republicans are doubling down on their backing of the former football player, and Jimmy Kimmel, for one, is amused by how Walker’s supporters are trying to spin this story.
On Wednesday night, Kimmel shared how some of the Republican party’s most prominent leaders are finding a way to defend Walker’s continued bad behavior. Donald Trump decided to re-point the finger at Walker’s opponent, Raphael Warnock, saying that he has “heard many horrible things” about the incumbent senator, then played coy describing these “things” as so horrible that “nobody should be talking about them — so we don’t.” (Because if ever there was a man not to blab about something, it’s definitely Trump.)
The stakes of Walker’s campaign are high, Kimmel explained, as “losing a seat in Georgia could cost the Republicans control of the Senate. So now all the bastions of family values are coming to Herschel’s defense.” But it was former congressman and one-time Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich’s response in particular that really amused Kimmel.
While appearing on Fox News, Gingrich described Walker as “a remarkable person” and “the most important senate candidate in the country, cause he’ll do more to change the Senate just by the sheer presence — by his confidence, by his deep commitment to Christ.” As for those abortion rumors? Listen, nobody’s perfect. And, as Gingrich explained, Walker “had a lot of concussions coming out of football.”
“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard the ‘our candidate has brain damage’ defense,” Kimmel admitted. But he seemed to agree that concussions are a nasty business and, sure, “sometimes they can cause abortions.”
You can watch the full clip above, beginning around the 5:30 mark.
