The Closing Statement I Wish Raphael Warnock Had Delivered

Moderator: Rev. Warnock, you have two minutes for your closing.

Rev. Warnock: Thank you for this occasion to address the people of Georgia. I cherish the opportunity to speak directly to the good people of this state on the issues that face both the state and the nation.

There are 330 million citizens of the United States. Only 100 of them have the honor and responsibility of serving in the US Senate.

There are 10 and a half million citizens of the State of Georgia. Only two of us have the honor and responsibility of serving as your Senators.

Earlier this year, six Republicans competed for the honor and responsibility of standing as the Republican nominee for the US Senate.

Frankly, I am appalled that, out of all of those people, this candidate (gesture toward Walker) is the very best the Republicans can offer you to take on that great responsibility.

Tonight he has repeatedly argued that you should vote for him because I voted 96% of the time with President Joe Biden. Given his utter lack of qualifications to serve in the US Senate, other than the endorsement of Donald Trump, I guarantee you that he will vote 100% of the time with Donald Trump.

Mr. Walker has told you “I’m not that smart.” As NY Times columnist Charles Blow wrote recently, believe him. He has told you that he graduated from the University of Georgia when the school records clearly show he did not. He has told you that he was “fortunate in my military career.” He never served in the armed forces. He implied that he served as an FBI agent, training at Quantico. He never served as an FBI agent, nor did he train at Quantico. Tonight he held up a badge, but that is an honorary badge with no more significance than the plastic sheriff’s badge you might give to a 10 year old child.

I would relish the opportunity to have a debate with a Republican candidate on how the Senate should address the big issues of our time: abortion after the reversal of Roe, the challenges presented by Russia and China, the current round of inflation plaguing our economy, the devastation we are seeing from climate change, gun violence in our cities and schools, adequate health care for our citizens, and much more.

But Mr. Walker has no interest in participating in such a debate because he is unwilling or unable to articulate coherent positions on any of these critical questions. For example, on climate change he said, “Our good air decide to float over to China, bad air. So when China gets our good air, their bad air got to move. So it moves over to our good air space.” Friends, Herschel Walker is an empty shell.

Frankly he is an embarrassment to the citizens of the State of Georgia. He has turned this campaign into a series of Saturday Night Live skits.

So tonight I say to my Republican constituents, think long and hard about your vote for the Senate in November. You can vote for me, which of course is my preference. You can vote for a third-party candidate. You can write in your own name on the ballot. You can stay home and not vote. But if you vote for Herschel Walker, you are endorsing the view of politics that qualifications, policy positions and competency no long matter. You may disagree with me on the issues but voting for Herschel Walker destroys the very nature of our democratic form of government. The choice, my friends, is yours.