The United States is suffering from a &#8220;low-grade fever,&#8221; Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/raphael-warnock" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Raphael Warnock</a> (D-GA) said on Sunday when describing the political climate.
Warnock sat alongside Sen.  James Lankford (R-OK) during a joint interview on NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Meet The Press&#8221; for a conversation that focused a great deal on bipartisanship. At one point, moderator Kristen Welker asked Warnock if he feels like there is a &#8220;public anger and almost mistrust of people&#8221; working across the aisle.
&#8220;I think the whole country has what I call a low-grade fever,&#8221; Warnock said. &#8220;You know some mornings you wake up and you just don&#8217;t feel really well. You can&#8217;t even put your finger on it. We&#8217;ve been through four years of COVID. And people — you know, the early years of that, the early months of that, having to shelter in, all the trauma around that. Twenty years of what felt like an endless war, and then demagogues who make — you know, who exploit this moment through exacerbating the fault lines, the cultural fault lines of division in our country. And I think people just feel the full weight and the trauma of all of that.&#8221;
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Sens. Warnock and Lankford tell families to do ‘hard work,’ bridge political divides: Full Interview" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s0WiwpQ2Dy8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Warnock said he would encourage people, &#8220;especially in this season, is to look toward one another rather than to figure out — you know, rather than thinking about how we can hurt one another, how we can pray with one another rather than prey on one another.&#8221;
The senator went on to declare that he still has &#8220;great hope&#8221; for the U.S.
&#8220;Our ideals of unity, of inclusion, of equality,&#8221; Warnock said. &#8220;And the American story is about pushing us closer towards those ideals. And there have been moments when the — the democracy has expanded. There have been moments when it&#8217;s contracted. But any woman will tell you that even contractions are necessary for birth. And so I remain hopeful even in this moment. But it&#8217;s going to be hard work.&#8221;
Warnock also shared what his message is to Democrats on what they can do to improve heading into the new year after Republicans retained the House and won back control of the Senate and the White House in the 2024 election.
&#8220;Well, look, you&#8217;ve got to listen to the people,&#8221; Warnock said. &#8220;We just had an election and I think we have to take some time to listen to what the folks are saying, what the people are saying, everyday people are saying, and continue to build on our values. Look, I&#8217;ve had success doing bipartisan work, working with people like Ted Cruz and I did legislation together. I&#8217;ve worked with Republican senators in Alabama to defend and support farmers. A lot more bipartisan work happens very often than you think. Sometimes it&#8217;s not talked about because that doesn&#8217;t necessarily fit.&#8221;

US Senator Raphael Warnock

Democrat Senator Says U.S. Has ‘Low-Grade Fever’

Congress

James Lankford

Politics

Raphael Warnock

U.S.

U.S. Senate

For those who don&#8217;t spend their Sunday mornings glued to the television — and their Sunday afternoons attempting to dig through a week&#8217;s worth of network and cable news media spin — The Daily Wire has compiled a short summary of what you may have missed.
With less than a month to go before the general election on November 5, the campaigns are pulling out all the stops — and so are the campaign surrogates. Several of them made the rounds on Sunday morning, hitting the political talk shows to spin recent polls showing that Vice President Kamala Harris has a serious problem with male voters.
In recent weeks numerous outlets have reported on the fact that Harris has struggled to gain support among male voters. &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kamala-polls-badly-with-men-and-morning-joe-has-the-solution" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Morning Joe</a>&#8221; regular Katty Kay laid out the issue just ahead of the vice presidential debate between Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) and Senator JD Vance (R-OH), saying, &#8220;But it’s men, I think the real struggle for the Harris campaign, is young men, old men, men of color, white men.&#8221;
Since then, the Harris campaign has leaned into Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff — but reports of him allegedly engaging in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/doug-emhoff-appears-to-respond-to-accusations-he-hit-a-woman-its-all-a-distraction" target="_blank" rel="noopener">violent behavior</a> with a former girlfriend raised concerns about making him so public-facing in the final weeks of the campaign. Walz has also embarked on a media blitz — but in the space of just one week he managed to call for an end to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/we-didnt-agree-to-that-walz-blasted-for-call-to-eliminate-electoral-college" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Electoral College</a>, tell comedian Jimmy Kimmel (and millions of Americans) that the Vice President of the United States is &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/walz-goes-full-knucklehead-reveals-strange-nickname-he-has-for-kamala-on-his-phone" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the dry cleaner</a>&#8221; on his phone, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/24-year-military-veteran-and-self-described-gun-guy-tim-walz-struggles-to-wrangle-his-own-firearm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">flub loading his own personal shotgun</a> during a staged pheasant hunt.
This week, they brought in the big (metaphorical) guns: former President Barack Obama. But as CNN commentator <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrats-are-hemorrhaging-male-voters-so-obama-helped-by-insulting-men" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scott Jennings</a> pointed out, Obama&#8217;s solution to the men-not-liking-Kamala-Harris problem was to scold them and label them misogynists for not supporting her anyway.
&#8220;And you are thinking about sitting out?” Obama asked. “Part of it makes me think — and I’m speaking to men directly — part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.&#8221;
Jennings responded by saying, &#8220;This plea he’s making to African American men, I mean, he said today – he insulted them! &#8230; I don’t think it’s helpful to insult a group of people who are already not enthusiastic about your campaign, but I think that’s what he did today.&#8221;
But the Democratic Party does not appear to have gotten the message. Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) doubled down on Obama&#8217;s rhetoric on CBS News&#8217; &#8220;Face the Nation,&#8221; where he told host Margaret Brennan that he believed misogyny was behind a lot of the reluctance to support Harris.
&#8220;I think President Obama was just having some very serious tough talk, right, tough love,” Frost added. “He was speaking directly to young Black voters, young Black men specifically, and making sure that they understand [that] look, sometimes you have to take a step back and look at your own bias,&#8221; he said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/RepMaxwellFrost?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepMaxwellFrost</a> says he shares former President Obama’s concern about sexism impacting support for Harris among some male voters. “I think President Obama was just having some very serious tough talk, right, tough love,” Frost added. “He was speaking directly to young Black… <a href="https://t.co/1dfSkwIGLQ">pic.twitter.com/1dfSkwIGLQ</a>
&mdash; Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1845501416858673491?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Frost went on to suggest that young voters might bridge the gap, however — despite the fact that voters aged 18-29 are typically the least active voting bloc.
&#8220;Young people are voting at the highest numbers in our country&#8217;s history,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We&#8217;re trending in the right direction. We just need to continue to reach out to young people, not take those votes for granted.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&quot;We can do better&quot; to engage young voters, says <a href="https://twitter.com/RepMaxwellFrost?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepMaxwellFrost</a>, but he adds that he has seen &quot;a lot of enthusiasm and excitement around this election&quot; among young people.
“Young people are voting at the highest numbers in our country&#39;s history,” Frost tells <a href="https://twitter.com/margbrennan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@margbrennan</a>.… <a href="https://t.co/pLn0pV3TtI">pic.twitter.com/pLn0pV3TtI</a>
&mdash; Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1845501126512173414?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
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On CNN&#8217;s &#8220;State of the Union,&#8221; anchor Dana Bash asked Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) to weigh in on the situation, and he conceded that he is concerned about the lack of enthusiasm for Harris particularly among black males — and he worried that some might simply not vote at all.
&#8220;I am concerned about black men staying home or voting for Trump,&#8221; he said, explaining that they may feel like Harris has not done enough to tell them what she would do for them and their community as president.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/RepJamesClyburn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepJamesClyburn</a> tells <a href="https://twitter.com/DanaBashCNN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DanaBashCNN</a>, “Yes, I am concerned about Black men staying home or voting for Trump.” <a href="https://t.co/Unj6bftip7">pic.twitter.com/Unj6bftip7</a>
&mdash; State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNNSOTU/status/1845493751642276208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) also joined the program, and he started off by trying to run cover for Obama.
&#8220;I have a great deal of respect for President Obama, and he wasn&#8217;t talking to all Black men. He was talking to men who we&#8217;re talking about sitting on the sidelines,&#8221; he explained.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/SenatorWarnock?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenatorWarnock</a> responds to Barack Obama’s sharp criticism of Black men on the fence about Harris: “I have a great deal of respect for President Obama, and he wasn&#39;t talking to all Black men. He was talking to men who we&#39;re talking about sitting on the sidelines.” <a href="https://t.co/LlRXMqmXAb">pic.twitter.com/LlRXMqmXAb</a>
&mdash; State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNNSOTU/status/1845492598535844298?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Warnock then tried to wave away concerns about black men voting Republican, claiming that it would never happen in any real way: &#8220;We&#8217;re not a monolith, but this idea that large numbers of black men are going to vote for Donald Trump, it&#8217;s not going to happen.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
“We&#39;re not a monolith, but this idea that large numbers of Black men are going to vote for Donald Trump, it&#39;s not going to happen.”<a href="https://twitter.com/SenatorWarnock?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenatorWarnock</a> responds to concerns from Democrats that some Black men could stay home or vote for Trump in November. <a href="https://t.co/qUZ835kjM2">pic.twitter.com/qUZ835kjM2</a>
&mdash; State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNNSOTU/status/1845492250689560768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Jennings wasn&#8217;t buying any of that, however, and during a panel discussion to round out the program, he argued that the Democrats&#8217; efforts to reach out to male voters was likely too little, too late.
&#8220;They&#8217;re struggling with — I mean, the front page of The New York Times this morning, Democrats struggling with African-American voters, particularly African-American men — this gender gap issue is real,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a real problem and you see the Democrats reacting to it, and I think what they are now — finally in October of the election coming to realize — is that a lot of men think Democrats care more about dudes who want to become women than they do about dudes who just wanna be dudes,&#8221; Jennings said, continuing over the outraged protests of several fellow panelists. &#8220;No amount of hunting cosplay or cringy videos is gonna change it. The bed is made.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Me, on Harris’s problems w/ working class men of all races on <a href="https://twitter.com/CNN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cnn</a>: “Alot of men think Democrats care more about dudes who want to become women than they do about dudes just wanna be dudes. No amount of hunting cosplay or cringy videos is gonna change it. The bed is made.” <a href="https://t.co/X5BW2xJzOj">pic.twitter.com/X5BW2xJzOj</a>
&mdash; Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottJenningsKY/status/1845471376422961562?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
To top it off, the most recent NBC poll suggests that any lead Harris gained after the September 10 debate on ABC has evaporated, leaving her and former President Trump locked in a dead heat with just over three weeks to go.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
NEW: Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are deadlocked in the latest NBC News poll.<a href="https://twitter.com/SteveKornacki?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SteveKornacki</a> breaks down the numbers on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MTP?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MTP</a>. <a href="https://t.co/9PiPiwVCoA">pic.twitter.com/9PiPiwVCoA</a>
&mdash; Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) <a href="https://twitter.com/MeetThePress/status/1845449477110247736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Kamala Harris Campaigns For President In Arizona

Spin Cycle: Kamala Surrogates Explain Away Her Man Problem

ABC News

CBS News

Kamala Harris

Media

NBC News

Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/raphael-warnock" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Raphael Warnock</a> (R-GA) conceded on Sunday that no particular gun law that would have stopped the deadly shooting at a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/georgia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Georgia</a> high school last week even as he blamed firearms for the tragedy anyway.
During an interview on NBC, &#8220;Meet The Press&#8221; moderator Kristen Welker asked Warnock whether there was a &#8220;specific law&#8221; that he thought could have prevented the shooting that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/father-of-suspected-georgia-school-shooter-charged-with-murder" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killed four people</a> given how the father of suspected 14-year-old shooter <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/05/us/winder-georgia-shooting-apalachee-high-school/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly told</a> investigators he gave the AR-15-style rifle used in the attack to his son as a holiday gift last year. Both the alleged gunman and his father have since been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/father-of-suspected-georgia-school-shooter-charged-with-murder" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrested and charged</a>.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Sen. Warnock says ‘we’re all sitting ducks’ after deadly Georgia shooting: Full interview" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/58gFEQsbvLQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&#8220;Listen, 14-year-olds don&#8217;t need AR-15s, and we need to get these military-style weapons off the streets. Eighty-seven percent of Americans (Democrats and Republicans, according to the Fox News report last year), believe that we ought to have universal background checks and still we can&#8217;t even get that done in Congress,&#8221; Warnock said.
&#8220;Listen, there is no one single law that will stop all of these tragedies. In a sense, I think we have to broaden the scope of the question because after all we have two mass shootings a day in our country, based on the data just last year. And this does not happen everywhere in the world,&#8221; he added before chiding politicians who are &#8220;beholden to the gun lobby&#8221; and lamenting how &#8220;we&#8217;re all sitting ducks&#8221; when it comes to school shootings.
Welker also repeatedly pressed Warnock on whether he thinks Vice President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kamala-harris" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kamala Harris</a>, who is running for the presidency atop the Democratic Party&#8217;s ticket, should support a mandatory gun buy-back program for so-called &#8220;assault weapons&#8221; like Harris <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/6360516566112" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> she would in 2019 during her first White House campaign. The moderator noted how Harris&#8217; campaign told her overnight that Harris will &#8220;not push for mandatory buy-backs but has expressed support for an assault weapons ban, expanded background checks, red flag laws.&#8221;
In his first response, Warnock said, &#8220;We&#8217;re not going to be able to get where we need to go without action in Congress.&#8221; The senator said he was &#8220;heartened&#8221; by the enactment two years ago of the &#8220;Bipartisan Safer Communities Act,&#8221; which The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-signs-most-expansive-gun-control-bill-in-decades-into-law-following-republican-support" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> as the most expansive gun control law in decades that gave financial grants to states for “red-flag” laws and increased background check stipulations for 18 to 21-year-olds.
&#8220;It was the first gun safety law we passed in 30 years. Thirty years. And it was modest, but it did save lives. But clearly (in the wake of what happened just the other day in Winder, Georgia), it&#8217;s not enough. And the least we can do is move forward on the bipartisan spaces where ordinary people agree,&#8221; Warnock said. &#8220;Clearly, there&#8217;s a disconnect between what the people, the American people want, and what they&#8217;re able to get out of their government. Again, 87% of Americans believe in background checks, and yet I hear politicians say that it&#8217;s not guns who kill people, it&#8217;s people who kill people. And yet we don&#8217;t even want to know who those people are. We won&#8217;t even support common sense gun reform.&#8221;
Asked again about whether Harris should support a mandatory gun buy-back program, Warnock said,  &#8220;As a pastor I&#8217;ve done buy-back programs. You can pick this issue or that issue. But I think that, again, there&#8217;s not one single thing that will make all of this go away.&#8221;

Senator Raphael Warnock

Democrat Senator Admits No Gun Law Would Have Stopped Georgia Shooting, Blames Guns Anyway

Georgia

Gun Control

Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) compared former President Donald Trump&#8217;s supporters — particularly evangelical Christians — to segregationists and slavery advocates during a recent interview, suggesting that they must be answering to a different God.
Warnock joined host David Remnick for a lengthy conversation that aired over the weekend on &#8220;<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-new-yorker-radio-hour/senator-raphael-warnock-on-americas-moral-and-spiritual-battle" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New Yorker Radio Hour</a>,&#8221; and Warnock insisted that the political fight against Trump was also a &#8220;moral and spiritual&#8221; battle.
It was Remnick who raised the question about pro-Trump evangelicals and what he called a &#8220;movement&#8221; among them to call for becoming a &#8220;Christian Nation with laws instituting Christian principles.&#8221;
&#8220;The enormous number of people of earnest faith, who look at someone who lives the way he does, who’s now been convicted of multiple felonies, how do you analyze that?&#8221; Remnick asked.
Warnock responded by suggesting that evangelical Trump supporters were no different from the Christians who had at one time supported either slavery or segregation.
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&#8220;Well, there were a number of Christians, a whole lot of Christians, who were pro-slavery. And, there are a whole lot of Christians who were pro-segregation,&#8221; Warnock explained, adding, &#8220;There’s a recurring line by Martin Luther King Jr in his letter from the Birmingham jail. He says it a few times, and in his speeches — he says, &#8216;I am so disappointed in the American church. What kind of people worship there? Who really is their God?&#8217; That’s the question for this moment. &#8216;Who really is their God?&#8217; Particularly when we’ve been told by a lot of folks on the far right for years that their focus is family values.&#8221;
Warnock went on to attack evangelicals for their position on &#8220;matters of private morality,&#8221; such as sex and gender issues.
&#8220;And those same people now are lined up behind Donald Trump,&#8221; Warnock kept hammering the point. &#8220;A man who has, had several marriages who found himself caught up in the crosshairs of, his decision to having an affair with a porn star, and these same folks who raised these issues around family values and private morality are the ones who are speaking as if he is the Messiah of God. I think the question that Doctor King asked all those years ago is especially relevant at this moment: &#8216;Who really is their God?'&#8221;

President Biden Holds Campaign Rally In Atlanta Area

‘Who Really Is Their God?’ Sen. Warnock Compares Trump Supporters To Segregationists, Slavery Advocates

'Who Really Is Their God?' Sen. Warnock Compares Trump-Supporters To Segregationists, Slavery Advocates

Christians

Donald Trump

Martin Luther King Jr.

Segregation

Slavery

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) slammed Republicans over the weekend for criticizing President Joe Biden&#8217;s decision to promote transgender visibility day on Easter Sunday, claiming that not being pro-transgender was the &#8220;opposite of Christianity.&#8221;
Warnock made the remarks during a Sunday CNN interview with Dana Bash on &#8220;State of the Union&#8221; after Bash teed up the senator to attack Republicans for daring to speak out against transgender visibility day which also comes a year after a transgender terrorist <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-shooter-decried-crackers-and-white-privilege-leaked-manifesto-pages-reveal">murdered</a> six people at a Christian school in Nashville.
&#8220;The House Speaker called Biden&#8217;s announcement abhorrent and said he betrayed the central tenet of Easter,&#8221; Bash said. &#8220;What do you say to that?&#8221;
&#8220;Well, apparently, the speaker finds trans people abhorrent,&#8221; Warnock lashed out. &#8220;And I think he ought to think about that. The fact of the matter is, as you said, March 31 has been a day to lift up transgender people who endure violence and bigotry. Easter, the date changes every single day.&#8221;
&#8220;But this is just one more instance of folks who have — who do not know how to lead us trying to divide us. And this is the opposite of the Christian faith,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Jesus centered to marginalize. He centered the poor. And in a moment like this, we need voices, particularly voices of faith, who would use our faith not as a weapon to beat other people down, but as a bridge to bring all of us together.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Sen. and Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) on Speaker Mike Johnson using Christianity as a weapon to attack President Biden, &#8220;This is just one more instance of folks who have who do not know how to lead us trying to divide us. And this is the opposite of the Christian faith.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/FSAfMGXf9D">pic.twitter.com/FSAfMGXf9D</a>
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) <a href="https://twitter.com/PoliticusSarah/status/1774437536363942373?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2024</a></blockquote>

US President Biden campaigns in Atlanta, Georgia

Democrat Senator Warnock: Not Supporting Trans Visibility Day On Easter Is Anti-Christian

Christian

Easter

Joe Biden

Transgender

Woke Culture

The four largest <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/unions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">public sector unions</a> spent nearly $700 million backing Democrats and leftist causes during last year&#8217;s elections, with nearly 60% of the funds coming from union dues, according to an analysis of spending by the Commonwealth Foundation.
Of the $708.8 million spent on politics during the 2022 midterm elections by the National Education Association (NEA), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), about 96% of the money went to Democrat political action committees or other leftist causes, the Commonwealth Foundation <a href="https://www.commonwealthfoundation.org/research/government-unions-fund-politics/">found</a>.
The four unions combined outspent the defense, transportation, and construction industries. “Any progressive organization that you can think of is probably getting something from the unions,” Commonwealth Foundation Senior Fellow for Labor Policy David Osborne told The Daily Wire.
Millions of union PAC dollars went toward leftist groups like For Our Future and dark money group the Sixteen Thirty Fund, as well as Democrat candidates like Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock and Pennsylvania Democrat Governor Josh Shapiro.
While it’s no surprise that unions overwhelmingly back Democrats and Democrat causes, Osborne that many union members likely didn’t know how much their dues were being spent on the “pet political projects” of union leaders rather than representation for members.
“What unions often try to hide is the fact that membership dues can also be used for politics,” he said. “The union doesn’t really have to tell membership what it’s [the money] going to go to. Doesn’t have to take a vote on it. By and large, what they do is, take all that money and then shovel a bunch of it over to a super-PAC, sometimes it’s affiliated with the union so that they can do all kinds of political spending that members may never find out about.”
According to the report, about 57% of the total money spent on politics by the unions came from union dues, while the rest came from state and federal PACs, which union members are encouraged to support.
“When employees learn that their dues are being used to fund political projects, that’s a value in and of itself. There are some things they can do as individuals to cut off the funding if they desire,” Osborne said.
The biggest beneficiary of union dollars was Shapiro, who raked in about $4,540,000 million from the PACs during his campaign for office, the Commonwealth Foundation found. Osborne told The Daily Wire that this number was “absolutely shocking,” pointing out that this amount was three times more than any other individual.
Shapiro <a href="https://www.law.com/thelegalintelligencer/2023/08/28/major-unions-ratify-contract-proposals-with-shapiro-administration/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">would</a> later negotiate with members of both the local SEIU and AFSCME, which included an increase in pay and benefits for union members.
Other top recipients of union money at the state level included California Attorney General Rob Bonta ($1,297,200), Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson ($1,179,100), and failed Texas gubernatorial and 2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke ($990,000).
<div id="attachment_666625" style="width: 1005px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-666625" class="wp-image-666625 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.22.41-PM-995x576.png" alt="" width="995" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.22.41-PM-995x576.png 995w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.22.41-PM-300x174.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.22.41-PM-768x445.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.22.41-PM-1536x890.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.22.41-PM.png 2022w" sizes="(max-width: 995px) 100vw, 995px" />Courtesy: The Commonwealth Foundation.</div>
At the federal level, union PACs gave significantly to Warnock ($60,500), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries ($50,000), and failed Senate candidates Mandela Barnes ($45,000) and Tim Ryan ($42,000).
“In total, PACs tied to the four largest government unions contributed to 282 candidates for the House of Representatives. Of those, 273 were Democrats, seven were Republicans, one was a third-party candidate, and one was an independent,” the report says.
The report made note of the close ties between the unions and President Joe Biden, who has billed himself as the most &#8220;pro-union&#8221; president ever. &#8220;During the COVID-19 pandemic, Biden&#8217;s Centers for Disease Control directly adopted language suggestions from the AFT into the organization&#8217;s school reopening guidelines,&#8221; the report notes.
Text messages <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/texts-show-teachers-union-working-with-cdc-director-to-keep-schools-closed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed earlier this year</a> showed AFT President Randi Weingarten and NEA President Becky Pringle texting with former CDC Director Rochelle Walensky about school reopening policies.
<div id="attachment_666631" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-666631" class="wp-image-666631 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.19.53-PM-1024x544.png" alt="" width="1024" height="544" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.19.53-PM-1024x544.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.19.53-PM-300x159.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.19.53-PM-768x408.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.19.53-PM-1536x815.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/Screen-Shot-2023-12-11-at-4.19.53-PM-2048x1087.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Courtesy: The Commonwealth Foundation.</div>
A variety of Democrat-leaning PACs and leftist organizations also pulled in a significant amount of money from union spending. For example, the unions gave a whopping $29,138,171 to the SEIU Political Education and Action Fund, a PAC that primarily backs Democrats for federal office and $13 million to the State Engagement Fund, a Left-wing dark money group. The Senate Majority PAC and the House Majority PAC, which support Democratic majorities in Congress, both received millions of dollars from the union PACs.
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The report found that the union political spending favored Democrats in every state but Alabama, Mississippi, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. The states with the most union political spending were Illinois ($27.9 million), California ($24.9), Minnesota ($13.2 million), Pennsylvania ($12.1 million), and Washington ($7.5 million).
“Armed with millions of members and numerous special privileges, the four largest unions have dedicated significant financial resources toward maintaining and expanding the legal structures from which they derive their power,” the report says, pointing out that union-backed candidates performed well during the midterms, and states like California continue to expand union privileges.
“Government unions use this power not only to advance leftist causes but also to elect political leaders who will protect their interests and influence. The result, unfortunately, is that federal, state, and local governments are increasingly led by politicians who care more about union executives than union members or taxpayers,” Osborne said.

Gubernatorial Candidate Josh Shapiro Campaigns With John Fetterman In Philadelphia

Gov Unions Spent Over Half A Billion Dollars Backing Democrats, The Left During Midterm Elections: Report

2022 Midterms

General

Josh Shapiro

Labor Unions

Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

spending

Teachers Unions

Unions

Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/dianne-feinstein" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dianne Feinstein</a> (D-CA) confused a black Republican colleague for a black Democrat in the Senate, according to a new report.
Ben Terris, a Washington Post writer and author, shared on Thursday what a Senate staffer recalls witnessing in an interaction between Feinstein and Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tim-scott" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tim Scott</a> (R-SC), the sole black Republican member of the Senate who is now <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tim-scott-president-republican-2024-cf670ab5b247ebff2ada04a5a989ec75" target="_blank" rel="noopener">moving toward a presidential bid</a>, sometime after Georgia&#8217;s January 2021 runoff elections.
&#8220;Feinstein had approached Senator Tim Scott, stuck out her hand, and told him she had been rooting for him and was so happy to have him serving with her in the Senate,&#8221; Terris reported in a story <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/05/11/dear-white-staffers-dianne-feinstein-00096238" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published by POLITICO</a>.
&#8220;It was obvious to Scott and the staffers in tow that Feinstein had mistaken the South Carolinian for Raphael Warnock, the newly elected Democratic senator from Georgia,&#8221; Terris added. &#8220;Scott had played along. &#8216;Thank you so much,&#8217; he had told Feinstein, according to the staffer who told me about the incident. &#8216;Your support means a lot.'&#8221;
The report noted that Feinstein&#8217;s office declined to comment on the anecdote.
Feinstein, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dianne-feinstein-not-running-for-re-election-in-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced in February</a> she would not seek re-election in 2024, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/feinstein-returns-to-senate-in-wheelchair-needs-lighter-schedule" target="_blank" rel="noopener">returned to Capitol Hill</a> on Wednesday, ending a months-long absence as she dealt with a case of shingles. Feinstein showed up to the Senate in a wheelchair and said her doctors recommended that she work a &#8220;lighter schedule&#8221; as she continues to recover.
At the age of 89, Feinstein is the Senate’s oldest member — and in recent years, some colleagues have begun to <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/dianne-feinstein-senate-17079487.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raise concerns</a> about her mental fitness.
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Much of the report by Terris focused on Jamarcus Purley, a staffer whom Feinstein fired in 2022. While a termination letter cited performance issues, Purley reportedly thought he was being punished for telling &#8220;hard truths&#8221; about the senator.
The report noted that perhaps one of the &#8220;most memorable&#8221; comments Purley made to colleagues was his view that Feinstein cared &#8220;more about her dog, Kirby, than she does about black people.&#8221;
When told about Feinstein mistaking Scott for Warnock, Terris wrote that Purley leaped out of his chair and shouted: &#8220;This is what I&#8217;m talking about!&#8221;

Dianne Feinstein

Feinstein Mistook Black GOP Senate Colleague For Black Democrat: Report

Tim Scott

Two Democrat senators are requesting the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-justice" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Department of Justice</a> to open an investigation into the expulsion of two <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tennessee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tennessee</a> state House Democrats who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tennessee-gop-expels-democrat-following-state-capitol-storming" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disrupted a floor session</a> with a bullhorn. 
Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/raphael-warnock" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Raphael Warnock</a> (D-GA) and Senate Majority Leader <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/chuck-schumer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chuck Schumer</a> (D-NY) sent a letter to the DOJ on Wednesday, urging the department to investigate the expulsion of the lawmakers on constitutional and civil rights grounds. 
“We do not believe that breaking decorum is alone sufficient cause for employing the most draconian of consequences to duly-elected lawmakers,” the senators say in their <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/12/tennessee-expulsions-prompt-senate-democrats-call-doj-inquiry/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> obtained by the Washington Post. “This is un-democratic, un-American, and unacceptable, and the U.S. Department of Justice should investigate whether it was also unlawful or unconstitutional.”
The senators reference the 1966 Supreme Court case Bond v. Floyd, where the Georgia House decision to deny a representative his seat because of his views on the Vietnam War was ruled unconstitutional. 
The letter followed the historic expulsion last week by Tennessee Republicans of Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) and Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) over their actions during a storming of the state capitol building by gun control activists, where the two lawmakers led chants with a bullhorn and disrupted the floor session. A third lawmaker who stood by Jones and Pearson, Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville), escaped expulsion by one vote. 
Tennessee House Republican Majority Leader Rep. William Lamberth (R-Portland) said that the actions on the floor were unprecedented.
“It’s never been that three state representatives attempted to incite a riot in the middle of the House floor. It’s dangerous, it’s inappropriate, and it silences the other 96 members,” he said.
Warnock and Schumer also said that Attorney General <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/merrick-garland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Merrick Garland</a> should “take all steps necessary to uphold the democratic integrity of our nation’s legislative bodies,” and said that the Democrat lawmakers were“courageously participating in nonviolent demonstrations.”
Jones has already returned to the state house after the Metro Nashville City Council voted to reinstate him while Pearson was reinstated following a vote of the Shelby County Commission on Wednesday. Both have postured themselves as modern-day civil rights activists and have seized on the considerable media attention that turned their direction. 
The expulsion earned condemnation from the White House with President Joe Biden calling it “shocking, undemocratic, and unprecedented” and Vice President Kamala Harris visiting Nashville to meet with the Democrat lawmakers.

Three Tennessee Lawmakers Face Expulsion After Joining Gun Protest

Democrat Senators Request DOJ Investigation Into Expulsion Of TN Reps Who Disrupted Floor Session With Bullhorn

Chuck Schumer

Department of Justice

Merrick Garland

Tennessee

U.S. Politics

Conservatives had mixed reactions to Herschel Walker&#8217;s loss in Georgia&#8217;s U.S. Senate runoff race Tuesday night, with some blaming former President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a> for pushing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/herschel-walker">Walker</a> to run and others faulting GOP leaders for not doing enough to help the onetime NFL great.
The runoff against Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) was held after both candidates failed to reach the 50% threshold to win the seat outright during last month&#8217;s midterm elections. Warnock performed better this time around, improving his margin of victory from 40,000 votes to over 90,000.
“One of the things I said is when they call the race, I said those numbers don’t look like they’re going to add up,” Walker said in a concession speech. “I don’t want any of you to stop believing in America. I want you to believe in America and continue to believe in the Constitution and believe in our elected officials. Most of all, continue to pray for them.”
Reaction to the loss was mixed online with many blaming Trump, others blaming Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, and some blaming Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
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Walker launched his campaign bid after Trump repeatedly urged him to get into the race, including in a public statement back in March 2021.
&#8220;Wouldn&#8217;t it be fantastic if the legendary Herschel Walker ran for the United States Senate in Georgia?&#8221; Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/henryrodgersdc/status/1369773486403649537">said</a> in a statement. &#8220;He would be unstoppable, just like he was when he played for the Georgia Bulldogs, and in the NFL. He is also a GREAT person. Run Herschel, run!&#8221;
Walker&#8217;s 23-year-old son Christian Walker blamed Trump for the GOP&#8217;s failure to take the seat, saying that it was Trump who got him in the race.
&#8220;The Truth: Trump called my dad for months DEMANDING that he run,&#8221; Christian Walker tweeted. &#8220;Everyone with a brain begged him: &#8216;PLEASE DON’T DO THIS. This is too dirty, you have an insane past… PLEASE DONT DO THIS.&#8217; We got the middle finger. He ran.&#8221;
https://twitter.com/ChristianWalk1r/status/1600332798967001088
&#8220;Republicans, we say we don’t play &#8216;identity politics&#8217; and then you ran this man mainly because he was the same skin color as his opponent with no background other than football,&#8221; he added. &#8220;A boring old Republican could have won.&#8221;
Notable responses included:
<ul>
<li>Joey Jones, Fox News: &#8220;Republicans lost the seat much more than Democrats won it (again). At some point, perhaps, they’ll learn.&#8221;</li>
<li>Scott Jennings, political strategist: &#8220;Georgia may be remembered as the state that broke Trump once and for all.&#8221;</li>
<li>Erick Erickson, Georgia-based radio host: &#8220;When @GOPChairwoman claims only the RNC worked in Georgia remember @BrianKempGA kept his ground operation going. @LeaderMcConnell poured $11 million into the state. The RNC didn&#8217;t do as much, but McDaniel will want credit to save her job. It&#8217;d have been a blowout but for Kemp. &#8230; No RNC Chair in the history of the whole party has lasted as long as Ronna McDaniel without seeing at least one winning election season. She took the job in 2017, and the GOP has lost every election cycle since.&#8221;</li>
<li>Ann Coulter, political author: &#8220;I sure hope Trump has some more brilliant ideas for can&#8217;t-miss Senate candidates. Omarosa maybe? Carrot Top? Ghislaine Maxwell?&#8221;</li>
<li>Caleb Hull, political commentator: &#8220;I hope we go into the next election with the realization that telling your base that their vote won’t matter because the election will be stolen isn’t a great strategy for winning… We had a layup this year and blew it. Time to move on.&#8221;</li>
<li>Robert Davi, actor: &#8220;The GOP is basically BRAINDEAD in my humble opinion! They are culturally tone deaf &#8211; and they have not come up with solutions! The messaging in the GOP is like Mitch McConnell a tired unenergetic uninspiring bore!!!!&#8221;</li>
<li>Joe Concha, The Hill: &#8220;Not surprising. If Herschel couldn’t win with Kemp on the ballot, he wasn’t winning in a runoff without him. Full picture: GOP gains a narrow majority in the House. Democrats gain one seat overall in a 50-50 Senate. Unpopular president in the WH. No party is winning right now.&#8221;</li>
<li>AG, political commentator: &#8220;Walker being a bad/inexperienced candidate meant he couldn’t fundraise himself, NRSC wasted all their $, and then Trump ate up all the small donors but then spent barely anything to back the guy he pushed on everyone.&#8221;</li>
<li>Andrew Egger, writer: &#8220;I&#8217;m sorry, but &#8216;Senate Republicans didn&#8217;t do enough to help Herschel Walker&#8217; is the most insane take I can imagine. Senate Republicans set aside every difference to try to lug Walker across the finish line! He proved himself unluggable!&#8221;</li>
</ul>
Other tweets that contained interesting tidbits of information included:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
With Walker’s defeat tonight, Trump’s final record in these races is 2-14 <a href="https://t.co/PCsCDAT1EQ">https://t.co/PCsCDAT1EQ</a>
&mdash; Allan Smith (@akarl_smith) <a href="https://twitter.com/akarl_smith/status/1600331819311734785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
https://twitter.com/ryanmatsumoto1/status/1600320057304760320

Georgia Republican Senate Candidate Herschel Walker Holds Runoff Election Night Event

Conservatives React To Herschel Walker’s Georgia Senate Runoff Loss, Cast Blame On Different Figures

Elections

Herschel Walker

Republican candidate Herschel Walker gave a classy concession speech Tuesday night following his loss in Georgia&#8217;s U.S. Senate runoff race against incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock.
Walker&#8217;s speech came after he performed worse than he did against Warnock during last month&#8217;s midterm elections, losing by more than 90,000 votes versus only being separated by 37,675 votes back in November.
&#8220;One of the things I said is when they call the race, I said those numbers don&#8217;t look like they&#8217;re going to add up,&#8221; Walker said. &#8220;But one of the things that I want to tell all of you is you never stop dreaming. I don&#8217;t want any of you to stop dreaming. I don&#8217;t want any of you to stop believing in America. I want you to believe in America and continue to believe in the Constitution and believe in our elected officials. Most of all, continue to pray for them. Because all the prayers you&#8217;ve given me, I felt those prayers.&#8221;
Walker said that there were &#8220;no excuses in life&#8221; and told the crowd not to blame others for why he came up short in the race.
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&#8220;And most of all, stay together. Don&#8217;t let anyone separate you,&#8221; Walker said. &#8220;Don&#8217;t let anyone tell you that we can&#8217;t. Because I&#8217;m here to tell you we can. I&#8217;m here to tell you we can. And as I said early on, this God is good. And he&#8217;s a good God. All the time he&#8217;s a good God. So I want to say I&#8217;m never gonna stop fighting for Georgia. I&#8217;m never gonna stop fighting for you because you&#8217;re my family &#8230; God bless you guys. And let me just say, stay together. Continue to believe in our elected officials, always always cast your vote no matter whatever is happening &#8230; Continue to cast your vote. Never, never, never give up.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Walker delivers concession speech" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uweZgHO5S0k?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
TRANSCRIPT (Revised for clarity):
<blockquote>HERSCHEL WALKER: You know, I&#8217;m always gonna thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And also, I&#8217;m going to acknowledge my wife, Julie, because she&#8217;s with me and she&#8217;s been through a tough time. But I want to say that I want to thank all of you as well, because we&#8217;ve had a tough journey, have we not?
 But one of the things I said is when they call the race, I said those numbers don&#8217;t look like they&#8217;re going to add up. But one of the things that I want to tell all of you is you never stop dreaming. I don&#8217;t want any of you to stop dreaming. I don&#8217;t want any of you to stop believing in America. I want you to believe in America and continue to believe in the Constitution and believe in our elected officials. Most of all, continue to pray for them. Because all the prayers you&#8217;ve given me, I felt those prayers. 
I want to thank all my team as well, Team Herschel, because they put up with a lot. I want to thank team Herschel, thank all my donors, as well, because you guys without you, I couldn&#8217;t have done what I&#8217;ve done. So I want to thank all of you as well, because there&#8217;s no excuses in life. And I&#8217;m not gonna make any excuses now, because we put up one heck of a fight. And that&#8217;s what, that&#8217;s what we got to do. Because this is much bigger, this is much bigger than Herschel Walker.
 And I told someone this the other day, I said, &#8216;You guys, I&#8217;ve done a lot of stuff. You talk about Heisman Trophy, you talk about all the athletic award, Business Awards, I won. But the best thing I&#8217;ve ever done in my whole entire life, is run for the Senate seat right here.&#8217; And the reason I&#8217;m going to say that is I got a chance to meet all you and hear what you guys feel about this country. And I got a chance to, for you guys to tell me what you do feel about this country. I got a chance to go into your homes, got a chance that you invested in Herschel Walker. And I thank you, and I thank you so much. 
And as I said, you can&#8217;t blame no one. Because I want you to continue to believe in this country, believe in our elected officials. And most of all, stay together. Don&#8217;t let anyone separate you. Don&#8217;t let anyone tell you that we can&#8217;t. Because I&#8217;m here to tell you we can. I&#8217;m here to tell you we can. And as I said early on, This God is good. And he&#8217;s a good God. All the time he&#8217;s a good God. So I want to say I&#8217;m never gonna stop fighting for Georgia. I&#8217;m never gonna stop fighting for you because you&#8217;re my family. &#8230; God bless you guys. And let me just say, stay together. Continue to believe in our elected officials, always always cast your vote no matter whatever is happening. &#8230; Continue to cast your vote. Never, never, never give up. All right. God bless you guys. Thank you guys. Thank you.</blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-democrat-raphael-warnock-defeats-gop-challenger-herschel-walker-in-georgia-runoff-projection">Democrat Raphael Warnock Defeats GOP Challenger Herschel Walker In Georgia Runoff</a>

WATCH: Herschel Walker Gives Classy Concession Speech Following Loss In Senate Race

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) has defeated Republican challenger Herschel Walker in Georgia&#8217;s 2022 Senate runoff election. DecisionDeskHQ <a href="https://results.decisiondeskhq.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> the race at approximately 9:48 p.m.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Decision Desk HQ projects Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) wins re-election to the U.S. Senate in Georgia.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DecisionMade?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DecisionMade</a>: 9:48pm EST
Follow more results here: <a href="https://t.co/hLeDr0wwEp">https://t.co/hLeDr0wwEp</a> <a href="https://t.co/Ica9IL7HyE">pic.twitter.com/Ica9IL7HyE</a>
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) <a href="https://twitter.com/DecisionDeskHQ/status/1600321318762577921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2022</a></blockquote>
Neither Walker nor Warnock secured more than 50% of the vote during the general election, thus triggering the runoff election held on Tuesday. Warnock’s victory follows a disappointing midterm election from Republicans across the United States, aside from several bright spots in the Georgia and Florida gubernatorial races.
Many pre-midterm polls and analyses predicted a “red wave,” with Republicans taking the House by a wide margin, and even the Senate by two to four seats, but following the midterm, Democrats have held the Senate.
This is Warnock&#8217;s second runoff after he defeated GOP candidate Kelly Loefller in the 2020 race, which was also not decided on the day of the general election — however, there were some changes to the voting process this time around.
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Under The Peach State&#8217;s 2021 voting reform law signed by incumbent Governor Brian Kemp (R), the state of Georgia shortened the time between the day of the <a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/politics/georgias-early-voting-turnout-far-lower-than-last-runoff-after-state-changes-election-laws/3225734/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">general election</a> and the runoff election from nine weeks to just four. Similarly, the bill also condensed early voting from more than two weeks to just one week.
More than 1.8 million Georgians <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/georgia-breaks-record-on-last-day-of-early-voting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted</a> early in the state’s Senate runoff election scheduled for December 6, including a record-high 353,000 voters on Friday, the final day of early voting.
The official numbers from the Secretary of State recorded 1,868,127 <a href="https://sos.ga.gov/data-hub-december-6-2022-runoff" target="_blank" rel="noopener">early voters</a>. The total revealed that more than one million female voters voted early, according to the state’s statistics.
The number of early voters was below the total from the recent November midterms in Georgia, when about <a href="https://sos.ga.gov/news/georgia-voters-set-all-time-midterm-early-turnout-record">2.5 million</a> voters cast their ballot before Election Day.
Despite the high level of early voting, the total is still lower than in the 2020 presidential election, when approximately <a href="https://www.ajc.com/politics/georgia-election-2022-25m-early-votes-cast-a-midterm-turnout-record/R5ZEYSPNMJH3RKVUMUZEGOXG5E/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2.5 million Georgia</a> residents voted early. Midterm elections generally draw smaller numbers of voters, with the state reflecting lower numbers experienced nationwide between the 2020 and 2022 elections.
In reaction to the turnout, Georgia&#8217;s Secretary of State&#8217;s Chief Operating Officer Gabriel Sterling <a href="https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/georgia-senate-race-12-04-22/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> CNN over the weekend, &#8220;There’s obviously a lot of enthusiasm. Both Democrats and Republicans can point to the turnout models and say, ‘that’s good for us’ so nobody knows what’s going to happen.&#8221;
The post-general election campaigning saw big stars from both parties turn out for their respective candidates.
Kemp — who defeated Democrat gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams this year — sat down with CNN to express why he was showing up for Walker during the runoff.
“The runoff now is a very simple choice,” Kemp <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIfwUOXmEB4&amp;t=407s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> at one point in the interview. “You know, are you going to vote for somebody that’s been with Joe Biden 96% of the time, or are you going to vote for somebody that’s going to go up there and fight for Georgia? And that’s the way I’m voting.”
As noted by CNN, Kemp was more hands-off during the general election. Walker was the only state-wide GOP candidate to not win outright on election night in 2022.
On Warnock&#8217;s side, Democrat heavyweight former President Barack Obama <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/upon-further-review-obamas-crazy-uncle-joe-snub-was-no-accident-in-georgia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">campaigned</a> for the incumbent in the final stretch.
During one stop, Obama <a href="https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1598471626638913537?s=20&amp;t=LMFuSGE-y2vRB4k-gUu5dg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mocked</a> Walker for a story he recently told about vampires and why he would want to be a werewolf instead. The 44th president said that Walker can be anything he wants to be — just not a United States senator.
The former president compared Walker to a &#8220;crazy&#8221; &#8220;Uncle Joe.&#8221;
“We all know some folks in our lives, who we don’t wish them ill will. They say crazy stuff and we’re all like, ‘Well, Uncle Joe, you know what happened to him,’” Obama said to laughs from the audience. “They’re part of the family, but you don’t give them serious responsibilities.”
Throughout both the general and run-off campaign, polls showed Warnock and Walker neck-and-neck.
This is a developing story; check back for updates.

Herschel Walker, Raphael Warnock

Democrat Raphael Warnock Defeats GOP Challenger Herschel Walker In Georgia Runoff: Projection

&#8220;Happy Days&#8221; actor Henry Winkler weighed in on the Georgia <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/breaking-georgia-senate-race-moves-to-runoff/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Senate run-off</a> — in favor of incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock — but his reasoning quickly sparked a number of unflattering references to Senator-elect John Fetterman (D-PA) and President Joe Biden.
<a href="https://dailywire.com/news/henry-winkler-aka-fonzie-tweets-contemptuously-at-those-boycotting-disney-world/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Winkler</a>, who played ultimate king of cool Arthur &#8220;The Fonz&#8221; Fonzarelli on the iconic television series, suggested that Georgia voters should choose Warnock over Republican challenger — and former NFL player — Herschel Walker because the latter occasionally seems to have difficulty forming &#8220;a full sentence.&#8221;
&#8220;GEORGIA : It’s not about Party … ITS [sic] about being able to form a full sentence,&#8221; Winkler tweeted on Monday. &#8220;VOTE WARNOCK.&#8221;
https://twitter.com/hwinkler4real/status/1599910247317274624
The responses quickly poured in, most offering comparisons to Fetterman — who has struggled with auditory processing since his recent stroke and often has difficulty speaking in complete sentences — and Biden, whose reputation as a gaffe machine long predates his time in the Oval Office.
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&#8220;Pretty harsh swipe at Fetterman,&#8221; Doug Powers <a href="https://twitter.com/ThePowersThatBe/status/1600114407169662976" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commented</a>.
&#8220;Wait till the Fonz finds out who&#8217;s president,&#8221; Gerry Callahan <a href="https://twitter.com/GerryCallahan/status/1600124257719025665" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a> in response.
&#8220;Aaay… The Fonz hasn’t heard that we don’t vote based upon &#8216;celebrity&#8217; opinions, no matter how articulate they may be,&#8221; another <a href="https://twitter.com/JewhadiTM/status/1600027799523188741" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added</a>.
Jim Treacher responded with a video clip from the debate between Fetterman and Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://t.co/zdVdkMMgUg">pic.twitter.com/zdVdkMMgUg</a>
&mdash; jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) <a href="https://twitter.com/jtLOL/status/1600111641856659456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 6, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;You do realize who the guy in the White House is, right?&#8221; @MrReaganUSA <a href="https://twitter.com/MrReaganUSA/status/1600088377868460032" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>.
&#8220;So, John Fetterman should step down?&#8221; @ITguy1959 <a href="https://twitter.com/ITGuy1959/status/1600000537264500736" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a>.
&#8220;Democrats talking about voting for people who can form complete sentences is the most ironic thing I’ve ever seen,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/brodybeilfuss/status/1600161142176854016" target="_blank" rel="noopener">came from</a> @brodybeilfuss.
Another <a href="https://twitter.com/Maga4Justice/status/1600158974753398784" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>, &#8220;Fetterman can’t form a thought or sentence. It’s blind loyalty to the Democrats.&#8221;
A number of others commented that Winkler, much like his television character, had &#8220;jumped the shark&#8221; with his comment — while still others argued that since the actor did not reside in Georgia, he should refrain from offering his commentary on the election.
Georgia&#8217;s run-off election, taking place on December 6th, will determine the <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/georgia-official-doubts-senate-runoff-winner-will-be-known-on-election-night/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">balance of power</a> in the U.S. Senate — namely, whether the Democrats will have a 51-seat majority or whether they will be forced to continue to bring in Vice President Kamala Harris to break party-line ties.

Vulture Festival 2022 Los Angeles

‘The Fonz’ Weighs In On Georgia Run-Off, Runs Face First Into John Fetterman And Joe Biden

'The Fonz' Weighs In On Georgia Run-Off, Runs Face First Into John Fetterman And Joe Biden

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