Fucking doofus:
Republic Senate candidate Herschel Walker shared some confusing remarks while addressing a crowd about Trump’s proposed wall to secure the border with Mexico, Newsweek reports.
In a viral video, Walker is shown telling his audience his support of the wall. He also said that walls don’t stop people from getting in.
“A wall do work,” he said. “When you got a wall around your house, people don’t … yeah, but they can get in. But, you know what? If they get in, it would be hard to get out because I got a dog that … well, my dog really won’t bite, but he’s pretty bad anyway.”
The crowd seemed to agree with Walker’s reasoning. Many laughed as he spoke and appeared to affirm his comments.
It’s this type of shit that might explain why Walker is afraid to speak with reporters:
When Herschel Walker first entered Georgia’s U.S. Senate race, his campaign team went to great lengths to limit access to the candidate. This was far from ideal — ordinarily, those seeking powerful offices don’t hide — but it was at least understandable given the circumstances.
After all, from the outset, the Republican simply wasn’t prepared to answer questions or talk about his governing vision. Indeed, Walker was a first-time candidate with no background in politics and no understanding of the major issues of the day. Of course his staff tried to shield him from those who might realize the Senate hopeful was in over his head.
The expectation was that in the months that followed, Walker would learn more — about the issues, about his positions, about how best to talk to journalists, etc. — and he’d feel the need to hide less. Those expectations were wrong.
The New York Times reported this week, for example, on difficult questions surrounding Walker’s residency in an entirely different state. The article noted that the GOP candidate “has not answered questions about the matter; he has largely stopped talking to reporters.” Politico had a related report, noting that Walker is afraid of making things worse for himself as his campaign reaches the finish line, which means “largely avoiding media questions except from conservative outlets.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Patricia Murphy added this gem this morning:
Along with not talking to the AJC, it’s been nearly two months since Walker has held a press conference and nearly as long since he’s spoken to any outlet outside of the conservative ecosystem. Lately, his staff has imposed a rule that reporters cannot get within 20 feet of the candidate.
Axios’ Emma Hurt posted an image of the gates the Walker campaign has begun using to keep reporters at bay.
By the way, this is hilarious:
With less than one week to go until the runoff election for Georgia’s senate seat, Herschel Walker is facing more controversy with rising questions about his Georgia residency. But, for “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah, Walker living somewhere other than Georgia would be definitive proof that he treats Georgians exactly as he treats his own family.
This week, reports surfaced calling back to a campaign speech Walker made earlier this year, in which he outright reminded voters that “I live in Texas,” despite the fact that he’s trying to represent Georgia. “Which, I was shocked about, because I did not think Herschel Walker knew the names of two different states,” Noah mocked. “This was really impressive.”
While campaigning, though, Walker has claimed that he’s maintained a residence in Atlanta for nearly two decades. Then, on Tuesday, it was reported that that house has been rented out by Walker’s wife for years, until he used it as his official address when he launched his Senate bid last year. And for Noah, the idea of Walker living in an entirely different state than his constituents might actually work in his favor.
“When you think about it, this just proves that Herschel Walker views Georgians as family,” Noah reasoned. “Because he’s never around them!”
I will say, I feel bad that black voters have to go through this runoff bull shit. Danté Stewart has a great piece in The New York Times that sums this up perfectly:
To be a victim of injustice hurts hard. To be a victim of indifference hurts deeper and longer. And that is what is most gutting about the U.S. Senate runoff in Georgia between Herschel Walker and Senator Raphael Warnock.
How the hell did we get here? I grieve the fact that someone like Mr. Walker actually has a chance at a runoff against the incumbent Senator Warnock. What does it cost us as Black people to see this play out publicly? What does it cost this country?
I mourn what has happened to us as Black people since 2020. With each passing year — whether it was how by 2021 America quickly reneged on its promises of racial progress after the murder of George Floyd or how white people remain protected after an insurrection — we have been reminded that to be Black in America is to live on fragile soil. What keeps and sustains us is never permanent, is often compromised, and besides, is never given freely.
When Mr. Walker announced his campaign in August of last year, I knew that he represented himself less as Black people’s potential representative than white America’s tool. Disgraced former President Donald Trump endorsed Mr. Walker: “Herschel Walker will never let you down.” As the months rolled on, the scandals piled up: the allegation that Mr. Walker, who strongly opposes abortion rights, allegedly paid for his former girlfriend to abort their baby; his son’s rants against his father, and even recent questions about his Georgia residency. Throughout it all, Mr. Walker’s campaign draws from white supremacy’s greatest fantasy and stereotype: using a Black man for white people’s entertainment and consumption.
And as a white male, I can only blame other white men for making black voters endure this:
Much of the hope for a Democratic victory hinges on the possibility of a huge turnout among voters of color, and young voters. Since record-breaking numbers have already voted, which most observers say benefits the Democrats, it appears as if this groundswell is already underway.
Much of the hope for a Republican victory rests similarly on big turnout. But in the case of the GOP, the turnout they need is of white voters, especially white men, who are by far the party’s most important constituency in Georgia and every other state.
The GOP has made gains in recent cycles among voters of color, especially men. According to NBC News exit polls from the Nov. 8 election, while only 5 percent of Black women voted for Walker, 12 percent of Black men did. There was a similar gender gap among Latino voters.
White women also supported Walker by a wide margin that was even more pronounced along class lines. Fifty-four percent of white college-educated women went for Walker—a number that was 25 percentage points lower than women with no college (79), who, notably, supported the alleged abuser of women at rates similar to their male counterparts.
But Walker utterly trounced Warnock among white men by 71-27 percent. This was nearly identical to the margin that Donald Trump had over Joe Biden among these Georgia voters in the 2020 presidential race. Walker’s advantage among white men without a college degree was an astounding 80-19 percent.
Yet despite these dramatic numbers, few mainstream political analysts have even mentioned—much less thoughtfully discussed—the white male vote in Georgia, and what it says about the current state of our politics as the GOP prepares to take back narrow control of the House of Representatives.
And Warnock truly is a terrific public servant who deserves a lot of credit for this:
In Georgia, the fight over Mr. Warnock’s achievements might be best captured at the site of the Hyundai plant, which, by 2025, should employ as many as 8,100 Georgians directly and another 1,000 at ancillary suppliers.
Mr. Warnock got a shovel at the groundbreaking, but not a speaking slot. And though he could claim success, his political opponents are loath to give him any credit for the project, which they say was secured by state officials in spite of, not because of, Washington.
That seems excessive. The Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act included large incentives for the production and purchases of electric vehicles and their components to combat climate change. The bipartisan infrastructure law, which Mr. Warnock also supported, devotes billions of dollars, including nearly $20 million for Georgia, for charging stations to make electric vehicles more practical.
(Mr. Warnock was not just another vote on climate: One of his first bills, the Growing Climate Solutions Act of 2021, showed an early commitment to the issue, in contrast to Republicans, who have blocked action on global warming for decades.)
This year’s far-reaching legislation on semiconductor manufacturing and science, too, drew early support from Mr. Warnock, after a Hyundai subsidiary, Kia, had to stop work at its High Point, Ga., plant when it ran out of foreign-made semiconductors. About $2 billion of the new law’s $52 billion in manufacturing incentives will be set aside to help existing plants like Kia’s avoid future supply-chain bottlenecks.
“From securing strong federal funding to boost U.S. microchip manufacturing to championing investments in expanding E.V. charging infrastructure in Georgia, Reverend Warnock has a proven track record of working alongside Georgia automakers,” said Michael J. Brewer, a campaign spokesman.
But it is also true that Korean officials openly complained at October’s groundbreaking about the details of the tax incentives that Mr. Warnock had ultimately voted for in the Inflation Reduction Act. Those provide credits of as much as $7,500 to consumers who buy electric cars and trucks made in North America, but not vehicles imported from Asia.
Hyundai officials had announced construction of the plant in May, well before the Inflation Reduction Act came together, during a visit by Mr. Biden to South Korea, signaling that the company shared the president’s climate goal that half of all cars sold by 2030 would be electric. More than a year and a half ago, Hyundai officials were at the White House to get assurances on electric-vehicle regulations in the works. Mr. Warnock’s team has pressed Hyundai’s case.
But the choice of the Savannah site was driven by tax incentives and other deals offered by Governor Kemp, Hyundai officials said. And the final “Buy America” requirement was not a factor in Hyundai’s committing to a plant on American soil. In fact, it was a sore spot.
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