Post-debate campaigning intensifies in Georgia as Walker rallies while Warnock fact-checks

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Fresh off his only debate in the race for U.S. Senate, former Dallas Cowboys star running back and current rookie Republican political candidate Herschel Walker rallied with supporters, urging them to get to the polls as early voting begins in Georgia on Monday.

The campaign of Democrat Raphael Warnock, meanwhile, released three clips from the Friday night faceoff that it said demonstrated Walker’s lack of knowledge about key issues.

“These are just the latest examples of Herschel Walker showing he isn’t ready to serve Georgia in the U.S. Senate,” Warnock campaign manager Quentin Fulks said in an email.

Walker was smiling as he greeted more than 100 supporters outside a Bass Pro Shop at the Savannah Mall Saturday morning.

“It’s time for us to stand up, wake up and get up,” Walker said. “For those of you who feel that taking a chance on a non-politician like myself, think about the damage that Sen. Warnock and Joe Biden will do if you give them six more years.”

An enthusiastic crowd greeted Walker and praised his performance in the previous night’s debate.

“Crushed it,” Chatham County resident Gary Harper said.

Warnock’s campaign had a different take.

They noted that Walker’s response to a question about a cap on insulin prices “showed a complete lack of understanding of diabetes, a health condition that impacts more than one million Georgians across the state.”

In the debate, Walker said those with diabetes need to “eat right.”

Warnock backed a $35 monthly cap on out-of-pocket insulin costs which passed as part a health care spending bill. Walker said said he would have voted against the bill, which President Joe Biden signed into law earlier this year.

The Warnock camp also took aim at his responses to questions on student loans and health insurance.

Walker has declined to participate in a Sunday Senate debate sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club and Georgia Public Broadcasting. Warnock and Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver will attend.

Warnock and other Democrats in the state will get a boost when former President Barack Obama announced Saturday he would visit the state on Oct. 28.

Not surprisingly, one of the sharpest exchanges of the Friday night debate came over abortion, which has become a centerpiece in the midterm elections following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year overturning Constitutional protections for the procedure. Walker and Warnock hold opposing views and each played to their base.

Adding fuel to the fire, Walker, a staunch abortion opponent, is facing allegations he paid for an ex-girlfriend to have an abortion in 2009.

“Well, as I say, that’s a lie,” Walker responded. “I’m a Christian. I believe in life. And I tell people, this Georgia is a state that respects life and I will be a senator that protects life.”

Walker has previously said he supports abortion without exceptions for rape and incest or the life of the mother. From the debate stage, he said he supports Georgia’s six-week abortion ban. “I support the Georgia heartbeat bill because that’s the bill of the people. … so what the people of Georgia stand for, I stand with them.”

Pressed on whether he believes there should be any limits to abortion, Warnock dodged.

“We are witnessing right now what happens when politicians, most of them men, pile into patients’ rooms, you get what you’re seeing right now.”

“I trust women more than I trust politicians,” he added.

Walker interjected, “Did he not mention that there was a baby in that room as well? And they also ask the taxpayer to pay for it, so we bring the government back into the room.”

Warnock countered that as, a pastor, he has a deep respect for life. So much so, he said has focused on maternal mortality.

“Do you want a senator who wants to control your life? Or do you want a senator who wants to save your life?” he asked the audience. “Well, I want to save your life. God gave us a choice when it comes to abortion.”