What A Day - Herschel Walk Of Shame

Episode Date: October 5, 2022

Conservative leaders have rallied behind Republican Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker, following a report that he paid for an abortion for an ex-girlfriend. It's one of the first October surprises to drop ahead of the high-stakes midterm elections.The federal government has a history of underfunding our election infrastructure, even though the people who run state and local election departments play a critical role in our democracy. Tiana Epps-Johnson, co-founder of the Center for Tech and Civic Life, tells us why America's voting system needs an upgrade.And in headlines: North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could chip away at the Voting Rights Act, and European regulators voted to standardize charging cables for portable devices.Show Notes:The Daily Beast: “‘Pro-Life’ Herschel Walker Paid for Girlfriend’s Abortion” – https://tinyurl.com/ya2m7z8aCenter for Tech and Civic Life – https://www.techandciviclife.org/Fat Bear Week 2022 – http://www.fatbearweek.org/Vote Save America: Every Last Vote – https://votesaveamerica.com/every-last-vote/Crooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffeeFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whataday/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

It's Wednesday, October 5th. I'm Priyanka Arabindi. And I'm Juanita Tolliver, and this is What A Day, where we're offering forgiveness to anyone who asked for it for Yom Kippur. Yeah, so I don't celebrate this holiday. I only have a vague understanding of what it's actually about. But if you want me to forgive you for some reason, I will consider it. I mean, unless it's like a real grudge, right? Yeah, of which I do have a few. On today's show, Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on the Mar-a-Lago documents case. Plus, North Korea fired its longest ever missile test over Japan.

But first, silly season is upon us, y'all. The opposition research is dropping and the revelations are already packing heavy drama down in Georgia. The breaking news from the Daily Beast is that Herschel Walker, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Georgia, who has called for a total ban on abortions, apparently paid for an abortion for an ex-girlfriend. This is one of the first October surprises we've seen so far and potentially one of the biggest drops this election cycle. Of course, that's in competition with the reports from June 2022 that Walker had multiple hidden children that no one in his family knew about. Yeah, not one, multiple. So like it just keeps coming for this guy really

has not been stopping. Week after week. And this time, the Daily Beast brought out the literal receipts for the 2009 abortion, which were provided by Walker's ex-girlfriend who has requested to not be identified. She shared a receipt from the abortion clinic, a Get Well Soon card signed by Walker, and a bank deposit receipt that included an image, an actual image of a $700 check signed by Walker. When confronted with images of the card and asked if he paid for the abortion on Fox by Sean Hannity, Walker stumbled over his words and said, quote, I haven't seen it, but I can tell you I send out so many get well or send out so many anything. I never asked anyone to get an abortion. I never paid for an abortion.

And it's a lie. I send out so many $700 checks. Who knows? Signature match and all. Abortion in the memo? Like what was? I would love to know what was in the memo. Anyways, this is all wild.

Tell us more what is happening here. Herschel Walker is saying this is a lie. But speaking of lies, that's where this story hits Real Housewives-level drama. Yesterday, Christian Walker, one of Herschel Walker's children that we know about and an aspiring conservative influencer, posted multiple videos online begging his father to stop lying. Y'all, take a listen to this. Family values people. He has four kids, four different women, wasn't in the house raising one of them. He was out having sex with other women.

Do you care about family values? Oh, boy. I was silent lie after lie after lie. The abortion card drops yesterday. It's literally his handwriting in the car. They say they have receipts, whatever. He gets on Twitter. He lies about it.

OK, I'm done. Done. Everything has been a lie. You heard Done. Everything has been a lie. You heard him. Everything has been a lie. And Christian Walker has also shared details about the alleged abuse, the threats and the trauma he and his mother have experienced at the hands of Herschel Walker. And it's because of their past and all of this trauma that, according to Christian, the entire family asked Walker to not run for office.

Priyanka, make it make sense. I 100% believe that his entire family was like, please, no, it is also wild because this guy is running for a party and as a candidate that has like these family values and is like clearly terrible to his family and is not a good person. But you would think any reasonable human

who hears this story would immediately run through all of the ways that this is harmful, hypocritical behavior, how this would disqualify Walker from serving in elected office. So how are Republicans responding to this? Republicans are acting as though they're unbothered, right? They're circling the wagons around Walker, honestly exposing their own desperation. The Republican Senate campaign committee is doubling down on funding the campaign and they dismissed the report says, quote unquote, nonsense. Mitch McConnell's pack is, quote, full steam ahead, end quote. Even anti-abortion groups are sticking with Walker. And of course, you know, Trump had to weigh in, sharing a few lies of his own, describing the story as slander, though we've all seen the receipts.

Some Republican officials are going so far as to preemptively blame Christian for taking down his father's candidacy. One anonymous GOP official said he's a spoiled brat and is solely to blame if Herschel loses the race. But come on, let's be real. Yeah, I don't think that's not his fault. That's not the reason. Not the reason. If you needed a clearer message that the GOP is pressed and worried about losing the Senate race in Georgia, then here you go. Walker is the embodiment of the candidate quality issues that Mitch McConnell called out in August when he began pointing the finger at Trump for handpicking these inexperienced candidates with questionable pasts who may just cost Republicans control of the U.S. Senate.

But we will have to wait and see how this will impact voters, of course. Will Republicans in Georgia simply skip over the Senate race when they're completing their ballots? How much will this motivate Democratic voters to turn out en masse to support Senator Reverend Warnock? We'll know soon enough. Yeah, there is so much here. I mean, I was reading about this on Twitter and the one perspective that really got me was he and his party have been campaigning on the idea that they believe that abortion is murder and they just are like, oh yeah, it's fine.

Like he's still our guy. Like it doesn't really matter. They have not said one thing against this man. So you're clearly okay with it. Clearly. I'm glad you feel that way. So do a lot of us, but like, don't act like you don't. And I mean,

another interesting thing. Also, I know he went on Fox News yesterday, that Sean Hannity interview that you referenced earlier. Yeah, he had his best fundraising day ever. I mean, it's sickening. Crazy. It feels like McConnell made that comment about candidate quality so long ago. Which other candidates was he referring to, though? Are they as bad as Herschel Walker? What are we kind of dealing with here? Look, they're just as bad and worse in some different ways. All right. So, for example, in Arizona and New Hampshire, you'll find two GOP Senate candidates who are giving peak conspiracy theorists slash insurrectionists slash anti-abortion crusader and one Don Bolduc and Blake Masters, respectively. Essentially, these two candidates are so underwater, the GOP has given up any hope of unseating Democratic incumbents in these states.

Republicans pulled ad money and resources out of these races months ago, so they're essentially in the kiss-it-goodbye category. Conversely, Republicans are making heavy investments in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. And if you did a double take at Ohio, you're not alone. Remember, Trump won Ohio by eight points in 2020. So you'd think Republicans could lock this up easily. Well, think again. Democratic Senate nominee Tim Ryan is giving J.D. Vance a real fight by appealing to independent voters who are turned off by today's GOP. Right. And then around the corner in Pennsylvania, the latest oppo drop included really disturbing and disgusting details about Dr. Mehmet Oz

conducting experiments at Columbia University that resulted in the killing of more than 300 dogs. And add this ridiculous, disgusting news to his lackluster social media content, his weak voter outreach and complete lack of connection with Republican voters who made it explicitly clear in the primary that they never wanted him until Trump tapped him, then all signs point towards a positive position for Fetterman, who is up by a few points in the polls right now. Yeah, a positive position for John Fetterman, actual Pennsylvania resident. You really love to see it. So all of this is good news, right? How should we be feeling about this? We should be cautiously optimistic, right? There's 33 days still until Election Day, and so much can change between now and then as control of Congress hangs in the balance and the

future of our democracy hangs in the balance, considering the sheer number of conspiracy theorists and election deniers who are on the ballot. Yeah, nothing is over until it is over. But speaking of the midterms, it is time for another installment of WOD The Vote. That was giving 80s jazzers sighs. Can you see me dancing, Priyanka? I told you it was going to be good. You did say I'd have a reaction. That was a big reaction. I had a shoulder shimmy, y'all. So Priyanka, what are we covering this week? So a couple weeks back, Crooked's political director, Shaniqua McClendon, was here on the show. She walked me through where people can donate their money to have the most impact this election season, to be the most strategic with their donations. And as part of that process,

we set aside some money to donate to organizations that support our election infrastructure. Moving forward, we just need to build out infrastructure so that we're always engaging with voters, seeing what they need. This is an investment in the future, just to give them a head start as they get started next year. So this week, I wanted to go back to that and focus on our election infrastructure at the state and local levels to better understand how it works and how we can help. Exactly.

That infrastructure is essentially what keeps our democracy running. And people who are elected governor, mayor, and even school board officials have a huge impact on our communities. We wouldn't have a say in any of those races without our state and local election workers and volunteers who run those elections.

We need those administrators, those poll workers and volunteers who count our votes and add us to our state's voting rolls to make our voices heard. Absolutely. And the reality is that these officials face a multitude of challenges when it comes to just doing their regular job, most of which can be traced back to a lack of financial resources. The federal government has historically underfunded state and local election offices, and it can also take years for these funds to actually get to where they need to go when they are giving them out. But election officials need this money now

to invest in equipment and the staff that they need to keep our elections safe and secure. And on top of that all, election officials across the country are constantly being threatened and harassed by people who still believe that Trump won the 2020 presidential election and that, you know, Joe Biden's presidency is on the part of these election workers, which it absolutely is not. It has gotten so bad that a lot of these workers won't be returning to their posts this November because they just don't feel safe or supported despite

their critical role in our democracy. Priyanka, when you mentioned those threats that poll workers face, I will never forget how Shea Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, were targeted by Trump after they volunteered in Fulton County and what they described to the January 6th Select Committee when they testified about how Trump and his allies fueled harassment and racist threats. No poll workers or volunteers should be subjected to this treatment and they allies fueled harassment and racist threats. No poll workers or volunteers should be subjected to this treatment, and they should get any and every protection they need. All right, Priyanka, you actually got to speak with someone about this issue. What did they have to say? Yeah, so to learn more about what our state and local election workers need and what we

can do to help this year and every year, I spoke with Tiana Epps-Johnson. She is the co-founder of the Center for Tech and Civic Life, an organization that works directly with state and local election workers to provide them with the funding and the training that they need to serve their communities. I started by asking her about the real world consequences of underfunding our election infrastructure. We worked with an election department in a small town in Massachusetts in 2020 that literally was using hand-cranked ballot boxes to count ballots. And they were held together by duct tape. They were so old that after supporting them with some resources to modernize their equipment, they took these duct tape together pieces of equipment and donated them to the local historical society. As they should. As they should. As they should. We worked with an election department who let us know that one of the

things that they struggle to do is download a 40-page instruction manual for how to properly do processes because the internet is so poor where their office is. We've heard from an election department that said that their primary facility where the most ballots are returned and where they work on a daily basis is inaccessible to people with disabilities, whether they're the voters or the staff that's there. We heard from an election department where their office is situated in the basement of a jailhouse and it's leaky. So there's literal mold that is developing in the facility, making it nearly uninhabitable. This is like not even, they're not reaching for the moon here. Like they are so basic. These are the most fundamental things. I kid you not heard from an election department that told us if they had more resources to invest in election infrastructure, one thing that they would do is literally buy wood for the stove in the schoolhouse because that's the heat source.

Are you OK? This is like Little House on the Prairie. Yeah. And, you know, these are stories about specific election departments, but it's not unique. We are spending about half of 1% of a county's budget on our election infrastructure, which is nowhere near what's needed. We're really fortunate that election officials are pulling off miracles, but they shouldn't need to. It really is a systems failure. Yeah. So the Senate announced earlier this year that it increased its election security budget for state and local election departments from $75 million to $400 million, which seems like a big increase. Hopefully that can accomplish some things. But the Center for Tech and Civic Life says that this isn't enough to address their needs. In a

perfect world, how much money would the federal government need to set aside for state and local election offices? And how would it help them run free and fair elections? We estimate that over the next decade, election departments need about $50 billion in funding to do everything from upgrade the equipment that voters use to cast ballots and where ballots are counted to making sure that facilities are secure. We were really excited to see a 5x increase in what Congress is considering in the budget this year. And still, this is just a portion of what we need to see on a regular basis from Congress. Okay, so election workers really were put on my radar, I feel like in 2020, which really, I'm ashamed to say, is not that long ago. But like, you know, it was mainly because of the situation that they were put through over former President

Donald Trump's many attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. Up until then, I wasn't really thinking so hard about how our elections were running. So how has the big lie changed how you have been engaging with local election officials and how they're feeling as we head to the polls in November. If you think back to the beginning of 2020, election officials were tackling a pandemic that had collided with a presidential election. Right. And one of the things that sometimes gets lost in the misinformation that has plagued the ways that the election was characterized is that these election officials in a matter of months stepped up to totally transform how they were serving voters so that the process was safe,

so that election day wasn't a super spitter event. Yeah. So that there were enough polling sites that were open. If we remember back to the primaries, polling places were closed at record rates. We were seeing places like Milwaukee that usually has 180 polling places only have five. So election officials figured out in just a matter of months how to keep those open. And they were able to accurately count ballots and get those results to the public, even with a record number of ballots that were coming in by mail, which take longer to process. What that ultimately looked like was that our national security community says that the 2020 election was the most secure election that's ever been administered. Wow. It was also the highest turnout election in a century and the most diverse

electorate that has ever participated. And then since, what we've seen in response is on the one hand, greater recognition for these folks. Yeah. But also, on the other hand, election officials today that I work with, some have had to flee their homes. Yeah. Their children are being bullied in schools. You know, we're seeing folks leave the field at record rates because of the vitriol that's being cast at them all while working in an environment that's not resourced enough as it is. So Juanita, that was my conversation with Tiana Epps-Johnson, co-founder of the Center for Tech and Civic Life. We'll link to her organization in our show notes, but that is the latest for now. We'll be back after some ads. Let's get to some headlines.

Headlines. North Korea launched a ballistic test missile Tuesday morning that flew over Japan, the first time such a weapon flew over that country in five years. Some Japanese communities in the missile's path were told to shelter in place, though it landed somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. We now know this weapon could hypothetically reach Guam, a U.S. territory, making this North Korea's longest-ranging missile ever. It was the 23rd missile launch from North Korea this year alone. It's worth noting that these missiles could carry nuclear warheads and South Korean

intelligence officials warn North Korea could conduct an underground nuclear test soon. President Joe Biden and the Japanese prime minister both condemned the launch, calling it a quote, reckless and deliberately provocative action. Yeah, terrifying. Don't know why they're launching this many missiles, but can't be for anything good. I don't like the sounds of it one bit. The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday in a case that could potentially chip away at a key part of the Voting Rights Act, specifically provisions that protect against racial discrimination in voting. The case, Merrill v. Milligan, looks at Alabama's congressional redistricting map, which was drawn up by the state's Republican-led legislature. Over a quarter of Alabama residents are black,

but the current map only draws one black-majority district out of seven in the state. In January, a lower court decided that Alabama should get a second black-majority district. But conservative lawmakers in the state appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that unless there's evidence of intentional racial discrimination, which is extremely hard to prove, race shouldn't be a factor when drawing up those maps. This flies in the face of the Voting Rights Act, everything that is law in this country. And during Tuesday's oral argument, Justice Katonji Brown Jackson, the first black woman to serve on the court, dropped some serious knowledge about what the

Constitution actually has to say about this. The framers themselves adopted the Equal Protection Clause, the 14th Amendment, the 15th Amendment in a race conscious way. I don't think that the historical record establishes that the founders believed that race neutrality or race blindness was required. And just a reminder, those amendments were intended to give equal rights to freed, formerly enslaved people. Look, I just did the biggest hair flip, Priyanka. I don't know if you caught that. She was schooling the Alabama attorneys. And I love this energy on her second day on the job. She didn't hesitate to give them the business. And I honestly want her to give them more, please.

Hell yeah. Also, it's jacked up that the marginalized people have to come up with the proof that they're being further marginalized. So come on now, we need to disabuse ourselves of that notion and listen to Justice Katonji Brown Jackson. And speaking of the Supreme Court, former President Donald Trump asked the high court to intervene in the case regarding classified material seized from Mar-a-Lago. Oh, great. What did he ask?

Team Trump's emergency request basically asked the court to once again allow the special master assigned to the case to review over 100 classified documents seized from his Florida estate. This isn't the first time he asked the Supreme Court to intervene in a case involving, guess, him, right? Earlier this year, he asked the justices, three of whom he appointed himself, to block the release of documents from his administration to the January 6th House Committee. The court denied that request, but Clarence Thomas, lo and behold, was the only justice who disagreed. He also happens to be married to a 2020 election denier who testified to as much to the January 6th Select Committee just last week, Priyanka. Yeah, listen, I feel like this man thinks, like, I appointed these people to this court, so, like, they are on are on my side, which is like not how it's supposed to work at all. Like if you had any basic understanding, you would know that.

But I feel like that's why this is happening. And I wish him the absolute opposite of luck here. I hope he runs into every single obstacle. European regulators declared war on messy drawers by voting to require all new portable devices to use the same kind of charging cable. This is revolutionary news, everybody. This is huge. Apple will have to replace its proprietary iPhone lightning cable with the everyman USB-C starting in 2024, assuming that EU member states approve the decision from EU's parliament. Laptops will have a couple more years to make the switch, and the move will cut down on waste and save consumers in Europe an estimated $247 million

a year. Plus, it might help iPhone and Android users see eye to eye for perhaps the first time ever. I don't see that part happening, but yay for fewer cords. And a look at the only true renewable energy source, billionaire mood swings. Cue Elon Musk. Yesterday, he agreed to buy Twitter at the originally agreed upon price of $44 billion, billion with a B, after a very public attempt at reneging on the deal. Musk did this two weeks before he and Twitter are set to face off in court, where legal experts say the social media company would have had a pretty good shot at forcing the deal through.

Twitter responded to Musk's offer by saying it would close the deal, but it has not yet dropped the lawsuit, which is smart because if you know Elon, you know he could run off and disappear into one of his tunnels at literally any time because, yes, he has a network of secret tunnels. Yeah, some of us are sitting here hoping that he does run off into those tunnels and just disappears for a little while. Could be a nice break. And finally, today marks the start of the animal kingdom's most body positive event.

It is once again Fat Bear Week, an annual contest hosted by Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve, where people can vote online for their favorite brown bear whose body has become dramatically more round ahead of hibernation. Bears eat about a year's worth of food in the six months before the start of winter, leading to an eye-catching puffiness

that is visible in each of this year's 12 competitors. Two bears face off each day on fatbearweek.org, and it is up to you to decide which one quote best exemplifies fatness according to the site not only is it fun but it helps raise awareness about conservation efforts at katmai personally i am pulling for 856 though the washington post is out here smearing him calling him a bully but let the fattest bear win look I know you're calling for sources on this bullying, you know, categorization. That is slandering my bear. But I wouldn't say it's slander.

I'm assuming this is coming from the conservationists. That wasn't on the site that I used to pick my favorite bear. And now I'm committed. Now I have a favorite. And you know what? I think that my bear is being unfairly attacked because he is the front runner.

And I think these are smears these are lies from the fake news media and I don't want to hear it oh goodness we got Priyanka talking like a Trump supporter wow alright but since I grew up in Memphis Tennessee I am absolutely riding for bear 901

apparently she's a wild card entry and she's looking to prove herself this year plus there's a chance that she might be pregnant with little bear cubs. So I'm excited to follow her journey into motherhood as she gets more rotund before going into hibernation. So shout out to Bear 901. I got your back, friend. Listen, follow along with us. Vote for your favorite fat bear.

I mean, mine's going to win, but it's fine. Girl, simmer down. Those are the headlines. All right, y'all, that's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, disappear into one of Elon Musk's tunnels and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just instructions for how to properly dispose of charging cables like me,

what a day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Juanita Tolliver. I'm Priyanka Arabindi. And good luck to the rotund bears. You know, the round, cuddly bears.

I am okay with any bear that wins. I would love if my bear does, but you know. The bully bear. Yes, we know. Yeah. What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Bill Lance, Jazzy Marine, and Raven Yamamoto are our associate producers. Our head writer is John Milstein

and our executive producer is Lita Martinez. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka.