{"id":42046,"date":"2022-10-14T22:20:05","date_gmt":"2022-10-15T02:20:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/?p=42046"},"modified":"2023-09-24T16:28:54","modified_gmt":"2023-09-24T20:28:54","slug":"heres-what-happened-at-the-senate-debate-between-herschel-walker-and-raphael-warnock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/?p=42046","title":{"rendered":"Here’s what happened at the Senate debate between Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock<\/a> and his Republican opponent Herschel Walker<\/a> faced off in a contentious debate in Savannah Friday, the first and likely the only televised debate between the two in this pivotal race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the hour-long meeting, Warnock largely touted bipartisan accomplishments and accused his opponent of speaking falsehoods about his campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTime and time again tonight, we’ve already seen that my opponent has a problem with the truth,\u201d Warnock said. \u201cJust because he said something doesn’t mean it’s true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For his part, Walker hammered Warnock for supporting Democratic policies and President Joe Biden, while blaming them both for inflation and economic woes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe went to Washington to represent Joe Biden,\u201d Walker said of Warnock. “That’s the reason we\u2019re in the mess we\u2019re in today, because he represents Joe Biden and not the truth for Georgia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The debate comes at a crucial time for both campaigns, less than 72 hours before Georgia\u2019s three week in-person early voting period starts Monday, and as polls show one of the most contested Senate races in the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Libertarian Chase Oliver, who will be on the ballot, was not invited to participate in this debate organized by Nexstar Media, but Oliver will be on stage with Warnock at an Atlanta<\/a> Press Club-sponsored debate Sunday \u2013 and an empty lectern representing Walker if he declines to appear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote in November, this race \u2013 and control of the chamber  \u2013 could be decided in a Dec. 6 runoff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Largely absent from the debate were viral fireworks or snappy one-liners, as moderators largely prevented the candidates from talking over each other or engaging in back-and-forth in their responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The debate momentarily halted at one point when Walker pulled out a prop law enforcement badge to claim he previously worked in law enforcement, which the Atlanta Journal-Constitution<\/em> reported is not true<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne thing I have not done: I’ve never pretended to be a police officer,\u201d Warnock said just before. \u201cAnd I’ve never threatened a shootout with the police.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walker on the offensive<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walker was the underdog headed into the night\u2019s debate, lagging in fundraising, polling and facing yet another round of negative headlines after The Daily Beast<\/em> reported<\/a> the hardline anti-abortion candidate allegedly paid an ex-girlfriend to have an abortion in 2009, unsuccesfully tried to get her to have a second one and threatened to kill his ex-wife and son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walker denies the claims, which have not been independently verified by Georgia Public Broadcasting, and was not pressed for more details after giving a brief denial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI said that was a lie and I’m not backing down,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walker also backtracked on his previous support for a total federal ban on abortion with no exceptions for rape, incest or health of the mother, now saying he supports Georgia\u2019s law that essentially bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before many know they\u2019re pregnant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even before Walker entered the race, concerns about his personal history and temperament under the harsh glare of a battleground Senate campaign dominated discussions of his potential candidacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On and off the trail, the former college football standout  has espoused numerous falsehoods related to his personal and professional accomplishments, like falsely claiming he graduated from the University of Georgia, served as an FBI agent or founded the largest minority-owned chicken business in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His attacks on Warnock and Democrats over the country\u2019s economy and other policies have been overshadowed by nonsensical statements like claiming \u201cbad air\u201d from China floats over to pollute American \u201cgood air,\u201d and that climate laws weren\u2019t necessary because we have \u201cenough trees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walker told the debate audience he would support former President Donald Trump if he ran again for president in 2024, and pivoted to attacking Warnock and Biden for the way the country withdrew troops from Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe’s my friend, And I won’t leave my allies, which is what Sen. Warnock and Joe Biden did in Afghanistan,\u201d he said. \u201cThey left their allies. And right now on a foreign stage, a lot of these people don’t trust us no more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warnock stays toward the political center<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Midterm elections typically see the party in power fare poorly, and Republicans have used rising inflation and economic woes to paint Democrats like Warnock as responsible for a flagging economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warnock, who was elected in a 2021 special election to fill the final two years of former Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson\u2019s term, has sought to tout Democrats\u2019 accomplishments while distancing himself from less popular policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is no question that people are feeling pain at the grocery store, at the pharmacy counters,\u201d Warnock said during tonight’s debate after being asked a question about inflation. \u201cAnd while we are paying record prices, a lot of our corporate actors are seeing record profits in the oil and gas industry and the pharmaceutical industry, which is why I have stood up for ordinary, hardworking Georgia families time and time again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warnock, who is the pastor of historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, has largely avoided commenting on Walker\u2019s myriad of controversies and missteps, opting instead to largely focus his campaign ads and speeches around bipartisan initiatives and legislative victories, like capping the cost of insulin for Medicare recipients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which had two of my provisions,\u201d he said. \u201cOne caps the cost of prescription drugs for seniors so they don’t have to choose between buying medicine and buying groceries, and one caps the cost of insulin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warnock was pressed extensively by the moderators if he would support Biden running for re-election in 2024, and he declined to answer the question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’ve not spent a minute thinking about what politician should run for what in 2024,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, the debate moderators shied away from longer debate on topics and follow ups about some of Georgia\u2019s top issues, instead asking Warnock and Walker as many questions about the Atlanta Braves\u2019 team name and \u201cTomahawk Chop\u201d chant as topics like a federal minimum wage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A high stakes debate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The race to become Georgia\u2019s next Senator has consequences far beyond who will be representing the state for the next six years in Washington. Once again, Georgia elections could decide which party controls the chamber during the final two years of President Joe Biden\u2019s first term in office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top Republicans have rallied to Walker\u2019s defense in recent days, arguing that his reliable vote for conservative policy initiatives should be a higher priority for voters than issues as a candidate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey know that Herschel Walker Herschel Walker is going to help build a Republican majority in the United States Senate,\u201d Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton said at a rally in Carrollton Tuesday. \u201cAnd they know that Herschel Walker will be a leader in the Senate, just like he’s been a leader in sports and in business for the state of Georgia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent polling has shown between five and 10 percent of likely Republican voters say they would vote for someone other than Walker, as independent voters also favor Warnock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond holding on to the seat and Senate majority, Democrats are hoping a potential Warnock victory could benefit other tight races.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stacey Abrams is seeking to become the country\u2019s first Black female governor in a rematch against incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp by aiming to expand the electorate outside party\u2019s typical base and boost turnout among Black voters, and a strong showing by Warnock at the top of the ticket could help her prevail. In Georgia\u2019s only competitive U.S. House race, Rep. Sanford Bishop faces a serious challenge from Republican Chris West to represent the southwest corner of the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early voting begins Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n[mailerlite_form form_id=9]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and his Republican opponent Herschel Walker faced off in a contentious debate in Savannah Friday, the first and likely the only televised debate between the two in this pivotal race. In the hour-long meeting, Warnock largely touted bipartisan accomplishments and accused his opponent of speaking falsehoods about his campaign. \u201cTime and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[11861,8490,10037,8514,8645,8489,12168],"class_list":["post-42046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-2022-election","tag-chatham-county","tag-coastal-georgia","tag-election","tag-raphael-warnock","tag-savannah","tag-state","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}