Walker says he knows the woman who said he paid for an abortion, and maintains she’s lying

Herschel Walker, the Republican Senate nominee in Georgia, told ABC News on Tuesday that he now knew the identity of the woman who accused him of paying for her abortion in 2009 but that he had not spoken to her since the The Daily Beast first reported the allegation, which he has repeatedly denied.

“I know nothing about an abortion,” Walker, who is currently engaged in a neck-and-neck race with Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), told ABC News anchor Linsey Davis in an interview Tuesday. “I knew it was a lie and I said it was a lie — and I just move on. And that's why I said it’s sad that people said October surprise, but you’re destroying families.”

“This race is too important for me to give up or for me to stop, so October surprise is not going to phase me,” Walker added.

Walker said that although he did not know who the woman was when the allegation was first reported, he had since learned her identity.

“But at this point, you now know who she is?” Davis asked during the interview.

“Yes, yes,” he said.

When asked whether he had spoken to the woman, Walker told Davis: “Not at all. So, I didn’t know who it was until last week, and I went, ‘Oh’ — and I said, ‘That’s not true.’”

He also denied ever having a conversation with the woman about an abortion or, to his knowledge, giving her money to pay for an abortion.

“Is she lying?” Davis asked.

“Yes, she’s lying,” he said. “Yeah, she’s lying. Yes, she’s lying.”

Since The Daily Beast report came out, Walker, a self-described “pro-life” candidate who supports a “no exceptions” ban on abortion, has repeatedly denied the claim, which POLITICO has not independently verified. Walker previously called it a “flat-out lie” and threatened to sue The Daily Beast.