Who is really financing Herschel Walker's campaign?
I have a slightly alarming fact to share with you. Popular Information ranks tenth in the politics category. Not bad! But four places ahead, in sixth place, is a newsletter by Joseph Mercola. Who is Joseph Mercola? He is "the most influential spreader of coronavirus misinformation online." Meanwhile, Popular Information's truthful reporting on the pandemic resulted in the nation's largest restaurant chain providing paid sick leave to all its employees. And this newsletter has been awarded a 100% rating by NewsGuard, an independent organization that evaluates media outlets for credibility. OK, I get it. In a list of the world's injustices, this would rate very low. But the fact is Mercola has more resources at his disposal to spread dangerous misinformation than Popular Information has to uncover the truth. You can help expand Popular Information's capacity to hold the powerful accountable with a paid subscription. To stay completely independent, Popular Information accepts no advertising. This newsletter only exists because of the support of readers like you. On Friday, Nathalie Jacoby tweeted that Home Depot had donated $1.75 million to the Georgia U.S. Senate campaign of Herschel Walker (R). Jacoby, a self-described "Democrat" who offers advice on how to grow Twitter accounts for $9.99 a month, was incorrect. Nevertheless, her tweet was the catalyst for calls to #boycotthomedepot to trend on Twitter. What is the truth? Bernie Marcus, the founder of Home Depot, donated $1.75 million to 34N22, a Super PAC dedicated to electing Walker to the Senate. But Marcus no longer works for the company. And Home Depot itself has not donated to 34N22. The identity of major financial backers of Walker's campaign has become a topic of interest since The Daily Beast reported that Walker paid for a woman to obtain an abortion. The Daily Beast obtained the receipt for the abortion, a get-well card Walker sent to the woman, and a canceled check the woman says Walker included in the card to reimburse her for the procedure. All these details were subsequently confirmed by the New York Times, which also reported that Walker unsuccessfully tried to convince the woman to have a second abortion. Instead, she is the mother of one of Walker's four children. On the campaign trail, Walker has advocated for a total abortion ban with no exceptions. At first, Walker said that the entire story was a lie and he would file a defamation suit against the Daily Beast within 24 hours. Now Walker has acknowledged that his accused is the mother of one of his children, that she may have had an abortion, and that he may have sent her money and a get-well card. Almost a week after the initial story was published, no defamation suit has been filed. Another one of Walker's children, Christian, is adamant that his father is lying. Home Depot was eager to distance itself from Walker. The company told TMZ that its PAC has not donated to Walker's campaign. The company has also sent over 70 tweets like this, suggesting that it was not supporting Walker. But Home Depot's public relations counteroffensive is also extremely misleading. Home Depot has also made significant contributions to PACs spending millions of dollars to elect Walker. The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is one of the primary supporters of Walker's campaign. The NRSC recently announced it had purchased $8.5 million in "coordinated" ads with Walker campaign. This adds to millions in spending the NRSC has made in support of Walker on TV and online. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), the chairman of the NRSC, will appear at a rally with Walker on Tuesday. The Home Depot PAC has donated $90,000 to the NRSC, making it one of the NRSC's largest corporate contributors. The Home Depot PAC has also donated $10,000 to the Bluegrass Committee, the leadership PAC of Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), which is also financially supporting Walker's campaign. Both Bernie Marcus and Home Depot are supporting Walker — the only difference is that Marcus is spending more. Walker's largest supporters The biggest spender in support of Walker is not the NRSC, 34N22, or even Walker's campaign itself. It is the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), the Super PAC controlled by McConnell. Walker's campaign, in total, has raised about $20 million. The SLF has already booked $37.1 million in TV ads in support of Walker. This doesn't count the millions more that SLF has spent online. So if you want to know the biggest supporters of Walker, you need to look at some of the biggest donors to SLF:
The largest donor to the SLF, however, is One Nation, a non-profit run by the leadership of SLF. Thus far, One Nation has donated $33.5 million to the SLF. (One Nation has also run millions in TV and online ads supporting Walker itself.) But donors to One Nation are kept secret. That means many of the largest supporters of the SLF — and, therefore, the Walker campaign — are unknown. |
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How anonymous donors are dominating the 2022 midterm elections
Thursday, October 6, 2022
One of the most powerful groups in the 2022 midterm elections is the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), the Super PAC controlled by Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY). The SLF is spending tens of millions of
The other Herschel Walker story
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On Monday evening, the Daily Beast reported that Herschel Walker, the Republican nominee for US Senate in Georgia, paid for a woman he was dating to get an abortion in 2009. The story was significant
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