(WASHINGTON) — Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker on Wednesday acknowledged he has a 10-year-old boy, about whom he hasn’t spoken publicly.
The revelation that Walker has a younger son was first reported Tuesday by The Daily Beast and confirmed by Walker’s campaign.
The issue of Walker’s involvement as a parent has brought renewed focus to the fact that Walker has repeatedly talked about the importance of being an active father and, in particular, has said, “the fatherless home is a major, major problem” for Black people. It is, however, unclear what role Walker has played in the life of his 10-year-old son.
He also has an older son, Christian, with his first wife.
A court order obtained by ABC News shows Walker admitted in 2013 to being the younger boy’s father after the boy’s mother filed a paternity petition that April.
In a statement on Wednesday, Walker’s campaign manager, Scott Paradise, pushed back on the idea that the boy was being hidden.
“Herschel had a child years ago when he wasn’t married. He’s supported the child and continues to do so. He’s proud of his children,” Paradise said. “To suggest that Herschel is ‘hiding’ the child because he hasn’t used him in his political campaign is offensive and absurd.”
Paradise pointed to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock’s court fight with his ex-wife over their child custody arrangement. (Walker hopes to unseat Warnock in November.)
A spokeswoman for Warnock, Meredith Brasher, told ABC News he is a “devoted father who is proud to continue to co-parent his two children as he works for the people of Georgia.”
Walker, a businessman and college football legend in Georgia who easily won the Republican nomination in the state’s primary in May, has previously faced scrutiny about his personal life. That includes allegations of violent behavior and his diagnosis with dissociative identity disorder, or D.I.D., a complex mental health condition characterized by some severe and potentially debilitating symptoms.
Walker has denied some of the past allegations of domestic violence, physical threats and stalking; others he claimed not to remember.
His campaign previously referred ABC News to his 2008 memoir, which detailed his D.I.D. diagnosis, and a 2008 interview he did with ABC News in which he discussed its effects on his first marriage.
ABC News’ Lucien Bruggeman, Pete Madden, Rick Klein, Stephanie Lorenzo and Brittany Shepherd contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.