Barrasso on stakes of Georgia Senate runoffs
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., weighs in on the high-stakes runoffs in Georgia that will determine the balance of power in the Senate on ‘Outnumbered Overtime.’
Rev. Raphael Warnock pushed back on accusations that he was anti-Semitic as his opponent, Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., attempted to tie him to the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
The comments by Warnock, a Democrat headed into a January runoff against Loeffler, came during "Morning Joe" when MSNBC host Willie Geist asked Warnock about his relationship with Wright and whether he thought he was an anti-Semite.
"I know Rev. Wright," Warnock said. "I'm not an anti-Semite. I've never defended anti-Semitic comments from anyone and Kelly Loeffler knows better," he added, before accusing her of "division and distraction."
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The nation's attention has turned to Warnock and Loeffler as their January runoff, along with another Senate race in Georgia, will be critical to determining who controls the U.S. Senate. During the past week, the Loeffler campaign has highlighted Warnock's ties to Wright as well as his former employer, Abyssinian Church, which hosted a speech by the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro in 1995.
Loeffler, on Monday, referenced how Warnock defended Wright, a former pastor to President Obama, after his infamous "God damn America" sermon resurfaced during the 2008 presidential race.
“No no no, not God bless America, God damn America, that’s in the Bible, for killing innocent people, God damn America for treating her citizens as less than human, God damn America as long as she tries to act like she is God and she is supreme," Wright had said.
In a 2008 appearance on Fox News, Warnock was asked about that speech and other remarks. “We celebrate Rev. Wright in the same way that we celebrate the truth-telling tradition of the Black church, which when preachers tell the truth, very often it makes people uncomfortable," he said.
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Wright also blamed Jews in 2009 for keeping him from talking with Obama.
".@ReverendWarnock has a long history of anti-Israel extremism," Loeffler tweeted. "He defended Jeremiah Wright’s anti-Semitic comments. He embraced the anti-Zionist BLM organization. And he thinks Israel is an 'oppressive regime' for fighting back against terrorism."
Loeffler linked to an article about Warnock's support for a letter that likened Israel's actions in the West Bank to the South African apartheid.
Warnock campaign spokesman Terrence Clark previously told Fox News that the candidate “deplores and disagrees with any kind of remark that is anti-Semitic or discriminates against anyone."
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He added that the candidate "doesn't agree with all of the positions other pastors support, and has said such throughout this campaign."
"Rev. Warnock loves this country, and he supports honoring the dignity of all people, but also finding common ground to reform our broken systems," he said. "Once again, our opponents are playing the same Washington games to try to divide and distract people instead of standing up for health care in the middle of a pandemic.”
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In another statement, Clark said Warnock respected Israel. "Reverend Warnock has deep respect for the invaluable relationship the United States has with Israel and how Georgia continues to benefit from that friendship," he said, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
"The reservations he has expressed about settlement activity do not change his strong support for Israel and belief in its security—which is exactly why he opposes ending direct military aid to such a strong ally."
Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
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