WEEKLY REVEREND WRAP: Reverend Warnock Challenges Walker to Finally Agree to Debates

Also This Week: Reverend Warnock Celebrates Workers’ Rights, Talks To Local Press Across Georgia, Fights To Lower Prices At The Pump, Fights For Georgia Farmers

This week, the Warnock for Georgia campaign challenged Herschel Walker to quit the games and show whether he’s really ready to represent Georgia.

Also this week, Reverend Warnock celebrated the dignity of work on Labor Day, talked to local press across Georgia, discussed his new legislation to lower prices at the pump for Georgia families, and continued his fight for Georgia farmers. 

Read about this and more below. 

REVEREND WARNOCK CHALLENGED HERSCHEL WALKER TO FINALLY AGREE TO DEBATES

This week, the Warnock for Georgia campaign challenged Herschel Walker to quit the games and show whether he’s really ready to represent Georgia. After Herschel Walker repeatedly claimed he was ready to debate, even going so far as to say Reverend Warnock should name the time and place, Walker has now done everything he can to avoid being forced to answer questions. 

When Reverend Warnock agreed to participate in three traditional debates hosted by local media outlets, Walker dodged them for months and then went out of his way to say he would only participate in a different debate where the topics would be shared ahead of time.

Watch “There’s A Catch” HERE

Savannah Morning News: Stop ‘playing games.’ Warnock accepts Walker’s call for U.S. Senate debate in Savannah

• Sen. Raphael Warnock’s campaign has provided a counteroffer to his opponent Herschel Walker in the ongoing U.S. Senate race debate drama.

• In June, Warnock accepted invitations to three debates at the Atlanta Press Club and the Mercer University Center for Collaborative Journalism in Macon, as well as one in Savannah hosted by WTOC. 

• In August, Walker, who has not accepted any of these debates, proposed a fourth debate also in Savannah, but hosted by WSAV.

• Now Warnock has said he will attend the WSAV debate on two conditions — that neither candidate receive the topics for the debate ahead of time, and that Walker accept either the Atlanta Press Club or Mercer University debate as well.

• Warnock has consistently criticized Walker for how long it took him to commit to a debate, often quoting Walker’s comments last October that he was willing to debate “any day of the week” — at least in principle.

• “It’s time for Herschel Walker to stop playing games,” Quentin Fulks, Warnock for Georgia campaign manager, was quoted as saying in a release on Wednesday. “The job of a U.S. Senator isn’t one where you know the topics ahead of time or get a cheat sheet, and Herschel Walker shouldn’t need one to find the courage to walk on a debate stage.”

Associated Press: Warnock, Walker creep toward debating in Georgia Senate race

• Warnock said Wednesday that he will participate in the debate Walker prefers if Walker agrees to another forum Warnock wants, the latest turn in a monthslong debate over debates. But later Wednesday, Walker and a spokesperson wouldn’t answer direct questions about whether Walker would agree to any other matchups.

• Walker refused to participate in debates during the Republican primary race, brushing off criticism from GOP rivals as he cruised to victory. But Walker also repeatedly proclaimed his eagerness to face off with Warnock in the fall. Warnock responded in June by challenging Walker to three debates, one each in Atlanta, Macon and Savannah.

• Last month, Walker instead accepted an invitation to an Oct. 14 debate hosted by a different Savannah television station, WSAV-TV, owned by Nexstar Media Group. The contest would be shown on Nexstar and other stations across Georgia.

• The Nexstar debate promised a live audience, which Walker said was key, and said candidates would get the question topics in advance. Warnock on Wednesday said he would do the Nexstar debate if Walker would agree to forgo knowing the topics in advance and launched a campaign ad criticizing Walker for dodging him.

• “The job of a U.S. senator isn’t one where you know the topics ahead of time or get a cheat sheet, and Herschel Walker shouldn’t need one to find the courage to walk on a debate stage,” Warnock’s campaign manager, Quentin Fulks, said in a statement.

REVEREND WARNOCK FIGHTS TO PROTECT DIGNITY OF WORK ON LABOR DAY 

This week, Reverend Warnock joined the Georgia AFL-CIO and the Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council for their Labor Day Picnic. At the event, Reverend Warnock celebrated workers with union members, labor leaders and community groups from across the state. Reverend Warnock was joined by other elected leaders and labor-endorsed candidates in the state. 

11Alive Atlanta: Metro Atlanta labor unions use holiday to push for higher wages

• Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Stacey Abrams, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Georgia, headlined a picnic at the local United Auto Workers headquarters in Hapeville Monday. 

• They both promised to support workers’ rights to unionize. 

• Warnock said he would support the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which would expand workers’ rights to organize and collectively bargain. 

• “You’ve got to be able to use your collective strength to get a fair deal,” Warnock said. 

• “Your commitment to improving working conditions, safety and protecting the dignity of work gets us closer to ensuring that workers can share in the prosperity they create.”

Watch 11Alive Atlanta’s Coverage HERE

Reverend Warnock: “You have to be able to use your collective strength to get a fair deal.”

Joe Ripley, 11Alive Atlanta: “Senator Raphael Warnock at a union picnic at the United Autoworkers in Hapeville Monday, promising to support the Protecting The Right to Organize Act, which would expand workers rights to organize and collectively bargain.” 

Reverend Warnock: “Your commitment to improving working conditions, safety and protecting the dignity of work gets us closer to ensuring that workers can share in the prosperity that they create.”

Joe Ripley, 11Alive Atlanta: “The PRO Act would also weaken Georgia’s current status as a right to work state, which makes it more difficult for unions to wield power.”

REVEREND WARNOCK TALKS TO LOCAL PRESS ACROSS GEORGIA 

Last week, Reverend Warnock’s Working for Georgia bus tour continued, making campaign stops across the state. But Georgians who couldn’t make it to Reverend Warnock’s campaign stops may have heard him on their local radio station—in between his “Working For Georgia” bus tour campaign stops, Reverend Warnock spoke to local radio hosts, including “Big Tigger” of V-103 Atlanta, Sunshine Reigns of Hits 92.3 Atlanta, Angela Peterson “AP” of 98.3 The Beat Columbus, Lady Pop of WFXE Foxie 105 Columbus, Rashad Richey of 1380 WAOK Atlanta, Jorge Lopez of La Que Buena Atlanta, and Eugene Lee of KNews Atlanta, where Reverend Warnock discussed his successful efforts to lower costs for Georgia families, strengthen our supply chain, and create and protect Georgia jobs.

Reverend Warnock also stopped for a one-on-one interview with Chuck Williams of WRBL Columbus to discuss his efforts to create and protect Georgia manufacturing jobs and fight for adequate care for millions of veterans exposed to toxic burn pits during their service. 

Watch WRBL Columbus’s Coverage HERE

Chuck Williams, WRBL: “Columbus could become one of the regional tech hubs. Is that what you’re hoping to see?” 

Reverend Warnock: “That’s what I’m hoping will happen. There was a study by some scientists who looked up the language from the bill and they listed about 100 American cities that would be well positioned to be a regional tech hub. Columbus in this region was one of those areas.” 

Chuck Williams, WRBL: “That would mean jobs and investment, right?” 

Reverend Warnock: “Jobs, investment, innovation.”

Chuck Williams, WRBL: “Also, one thing you are heavily involved in was the burn pit legislation that affects Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. That’s a big deal in Columbus because of Fort Benning. That is not lost on you, is it?”

Reverend Warnock: “Not at all. I have spent a lot of time on our military bases since coming to the senate, and I am so proud of the work that our service members do. But what we have witnessed over the last several years is a new generation of veterans who have been exposed to toxic chemicals, who have found themselves next to these burn pits and created health conditions for them. And after fighting for us, they had to come back and fight with us to get their benefits. It was well overdue, and I’m glad we got the PACT Act passed so that we can get veterans the support that they need.” 

REVEREND WARNOCK FIGHTS TO LOWER PRICES AT THE PUMP, HOLD OIL COMPANIES ACCOUNTABLE  

This week, Reverend Warnock continued fighting to lower prices at the pump for hardworking Georgia families. Reverend Warnock recently introduced the Taxing Big Oil Profiteers Act, legislation to combat corporate greed and incentivize companies to lower prices at the pump for Georgians. This legislation marks Reverend Warnock’s most recent effort to lower costs for Georgia families, following his successful push to hold shipping carriers accountable for price-gouging, strengthen our supply chain, and cap the price of insulin and prescription drugs.

WGXA Macon: Senator Raphael Warnock introduces new bill that could lower gas prices…for good

• Gas prices, while lower than they were earlier in the year, are still higher than what many would consider acceptable.

• With Georgia’s cost at the pump averaging at around $3.32 per gallon, Senator Raphael Warnock is part of a group leading an effort to do something about it.

• “There are larger geo-political dynamics at play, the war in Ukraine and other things that can contribute, but what we can absolutely do is hold oil and gas companies accountable,” Warnock told WGXA as he announced a new bill, The Taxing Big Oil Profiteers Act. 

• “Again, in the midst of all this, they’re seeing record profits so they’re clearly not just passing the cost of business on to the consumer. This is price gouging. Pure and simple.”

• This new bill, if passed, would discourage this price gouging as well as raise the corporate tax rate on profits made off of petroleum, tax stock buybacks, and eliminate accounting exercises that petroleum companies have used to reduce their tax payouts.

CBS46 Atlanta: Warnock accuses big oil of price gouging, introduces new taxation bill

• Even as gas prices fall, Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock said big oil companies continue engaging in price gouging, and has introduced legislation raising taxes on their profits.

• “Georgians have been paying record prices at the pump while oil and gas companies have seen record profits,” Warnock told CBS46 Wednesday morning. “This bill makes an adjustment to our nation’s tax code and incentivizes oil and gas companies to pass their profits onto consumers.”

• The Taxing Big Oil Profiteers Act would use the Internal Revenue Services as an enforcement arm. 

• Most of the country’s least expensive markets fall in the southern region and include states like Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi and Georgia.

• Warnock, along with U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) introduced the bill last month. Warnock’s office said the bill would corporate tax rate on oil and gas companies’ “excess profits” by taxing large oil and gas stock buybacks. It would also eliminate an accounting loophole utilized by large oil and gas companies to reduce their tax bills.

• This bill only apply to the richest oil and gas companies that have, on average, revenue of at least $1 billion over the prior three years.

WARNOCK FIGHTS FOR GEORGIA FARMERS

This week, Reverend Warnock continued fighting for Georgia farmers. Reverend Warnock, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, secured up to $300 million to help eliminate barriers to land, capital, and market access for farmers across the state. 

This legislation marks Reverend Warnock’s most recent effort to support Georgia agriculture and Georgia farmers, following his fight to lower energy costs for Georgia farmers and small businesses, secure debt relief for Georgia’s small farms and farming families, invest in farmer mental health, expand telehealth access in rural farming communities, reduce trade barriers for Georgia farmers and expand rural broadband. 

Watch WTOC Savannah’s Coverage HERE

Mariah Congedo, WTOC Savannah: “Well, good news for agriculture. $300 million in federal funding is now available for underserved farmers. Senator Raphael Warnock says the money is thanks to two big pieces of legislation. It was set aside by the American Rescue Plan Act and is now available through the Inflation Reduction Act. The money will be used to fund projects aimed at getting rid of barriers to purchasing land, other capital and market access. All of that will be done through partnerships run by the US Department of Agriculture.”