Sen. Warnock Uses Trump Endorsement As A Weapon Against Herschel Walker’s Runoff Chances

Murjani Rawls
·2 min read
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Former US President Donald Trump applauds while speaking at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on November 15, 2022. - Donald Trump pulled the trigger on a third White House run on November 15, setting the stage for a bruising Republican nomination battle after a poor midterm election showing by his hand-picked candidates weakened his grip on the party. Trump filed his official candidacy papers with the US election authority moments before he was due to publicly announce his candidacy.
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The Republican red wave that was supposed to overtake the 2022 midterm elections didn’t happen. That’s partly because many former President Donald Trump-endorsed candidates who endorsed his big lie lost their races. It’s had Republican leaders questioning if they even want to continue their ties with the former President or look for other alternatives.

Sen. Raphael Warnock’s (D-GA) campaign has seen this shift, and has put out an advertisement ahead of his runoff matchup against his Republican opponent Herschel Walker. It doesn’t mention any of Walker’s previous gaffs or scandals. The 30-second spot only shows a Nov. 15th stop where Trump is glowingly endorsing Walker for Georgia Senate.

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“Get out and vote for Herschel; he deserves it. He was an incredible athlete; he’ll be an even better senator.” The video then ends with a simple slogan, “Stop Donald Trump. Stop Herschel Walker.”

CNN anchor Chris Wallace was taken aback that the Warnock ad spoke to how weak the Trump brand is.

From CNN:

“It’s quite astonishing,” Wallace replied. “Because in no way is it an attack on Trump and in no way is it an attack on Herschel Walker, it is just playing Trump’s endorsement of Walker, and clearly the Warnock campaign feels this is, as you say, an albatross. This is a liability for Walker, not a plus.”

It’s not just network pundits who see this. Voters also know how the recent souring of the Republican party on Trump is a weapon for Democrats.

From the Washington Post:

“For every person that likes Trump, there are two people that hate Trump,” said Gabriel Delille, a student at Georgia State University who is voting for Warnock. He said he is “not glad” that Trump is planning another run for President, “but he’s a good tool for Democrats to use to motivate the base, because you can’t have that man in office.”

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