As the highly anticipated debate between Georgia Senate candidates Herschel Walker (R) and Raphael Warnock (D) draws closer, the former NFL running back set low expectations for his performance.
“I am getting out talking to people and talking to you [the media],” Walker said, according to the Savannah Morning News.
“I’m a country boy. I’m not that smart. He’s a preacher. (Warnock) is smart and wears these nice suits. So, he is going to show up and embarrass me at the debate on Oct. 14, and I’m just waiting to show up and I will do my best.”
Walker and Warnock are set for just one debate, which will take place on Oct. 14. Warnock accepted the invitation to debate in July, but Walker initially declined to debate the reverend. According to WMAZ 13, Walker said he had no plans to attend the debate in August.
However, when asked earlier this summer why he declined to debate Warnock, the former NFL running back blamed his opponent.
“He may not even show up for that one,” Walker said, according to the Savannah Morning News.
“He has made every excuse not to show up. I begged him until I chased him down and then he decided he was going to show up Oct. 14. I didn’t agree to do his debate because it wasn’t fair. A fair debate is doing it in front of the voters, and I’ve agreed.”
According to Warnock’s campaign, the senator committed to three debates and invited Walker to do the same, but Walker declined to commit to a debate for two months before pushing for a debate other than the one set for October.
Both men have had their fair share of controversy during their campaign runs. Warnock and his ex-wife, Ouluye Ndoye, were locked in a custody battle over their two children earlier this spring. Meanwhile, Walker was called out over his estranged relationship with his two children after calling Black men out for being absent fathers.
The two also share different values regarding abortion rights, an expected debate topic. Walker has reportedly criticized Warnock for his abortion stance, adding that he is a Christian man who believes in life.
However, Warnock has consistently stated that a woman should control her reproductive rights, not politicians, and the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade “is a departure from our American ideals and a failure to recognize and protect a core protection for women in this country.”
The Oct. 14 debate between Warnock and Walker will take place at Plant Riverside, Savannah, Georgia’s entertainment district, and will be aired on local television networks throughout the state, including Fox 5 in Atlanta.
Other topics that will be discussed are education, voting rights, and rising crime in Atlanta.
