CNN "State of the Union with Jake Tapper" - Transcript: Interview with Senatorial Candidate Raphael Warnock
Interview
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
TAPPER: Welcome back to STATE OF THE UNION. I'm Jake Tapper.
President-elect Joe Biden flipped Georgia blue for the first time since 1992.
But the entire political world is still focused on Georgia, with money pouring in, celebrities weighing in, and even people trying to move there, with a pair of Senate run-offs that will determine the balance of power in the U.S. Senate.
Joining us now, Democratic candidate for Senate in Georgia Reverend Raphael Warnock.
We should note, we invited his opponent, Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, to join us as well this morning. She declined.
Reverend Warnock, thanks so much for joining us.
So, in the November 3 election, you and Democratic candidate Matt Lieberman received a combined 35.7 percent of the vote. The Republican candidates, Loeffler and Doug Collins, received 45.8 percent of the vote.
From just a math perspective, how do you intend to make up that deficit? And why did so many Georgians vote for president-elect Biden and not for you?
[09:45:05]
REV. DR. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D), GEORGIA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Good morning, Jake. It's great to be here with you. We are in a very strong position in this race. I got in on January 30.
I'm a first-time candidate. And while folks are focused on the people who were at the top of the ticket, the fact is, there were 21 people in my race, 21. And there were 10 people with a D next to their name.
And because the names were listed alphabetically, and my name is Warnock, I was the next -- the person next to the last person on the list. And I finished first, handily, far ahead of a candidate who is the wealthiest member of Congress, who poured millions of dollars into this race. And we finished in a strong position.
There is no question in my mind that, as Georgians hear about my commitment to access to affordable health care, the dignity of work, the work I have been doing for years, standing up for ordinary people, we will prevail come January 5.
TAPPER: So, with control of the Senate in the balance, your race and the other race in Georgia between Ossoff and Perdue has taken on national importance.
Republicans are already trying to tie you to Democrats in Washington. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Now we take Georgia. Then we change America.
SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): That is Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer. You heard him. They plan to take Georgia so they can change America.
Georgia, don't let these radicals change America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: So, that is the Republican senator from Florida, just south of you, talking about Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader.
Now, you have tried to keep your message, as you just did, focused on economic issues, health care. Do comments like what we just heard from Senator Schumer, nationalizing your race, doesn't that hurt you?
WARNOCK: Listen, this is a Georgia race, and I'm Georgia.
I grew up in Savannah, Georgia. My church is in Atlanta. I'm pastor of the spiritual home of Martin Luther King Jr. I grew up in public housing, one of 12 children in my family. I'm number 11 and the first graduate of a four-year college in my family.
I know personally the importance of good federal policy, combined with personal responsibility, work, grit, and determination. That is the reason I'm able to run for the United States Senate. I am an iteration of the American dream. And I'm running for the Senate because that promise is slipping away from far too many people.
That is what this race is about. The fact the matter is, Jake, voters don't vote for politicians. It's
-- this race is not about me. And Chuck Schumer's name is certainly not on the ballot. I will tell you what is on the ballot. Health care is on the ballot, access to affordable health care.
We have got 500,000 Georgians in the Medicaid gap. We have got 1.8 million Georgians with preexisting conditions. And if Kelly Loeffler has her way, people who have asthma, people who have hypertension, diabetes -- these are folks in my family and in my church, folks who are survivors of cancer -- may find themselves without health care.
And that is what this race is about. And that what I will continue to lift up even as I move across the great state of Georgia. People are responding to that message. And that is why we are in such a strong position.
She will try every desperate attack that she can make, but this race is about the people of Georgia.
TAPPER: Yes.
Let me ask you about one of those attacks, because Senator Loeffler keeps mentioning on the campaign an incident from 1995 when you were a youth pastor at a New York church which hosted a speech by Fidel Castro.
Now, you have said you had nothing to do with that invitation. But just to clarify for our viewers, did you attend the speech? And do you understand why there are so many people who view Castro as a murderous tyrant and not someone to be celebrated?
WARNOCK: I will tell you what I understand.
I understand why Kelly Loeffler is trying to change the subject. I was a youth pastor. I had nothing to do with that program. I did not make any decisions regarding the program. I have never met the Cuban dictator. And so I'm not connected to him.
I will tell you whose names are on the ballot, Raphael Warnock and Kelly Loeffler. This race is not about anybody else. And so, while she tries to tie me to these personalities that I don't know, and seeks the endorsement of a fifth century warmonger named Attila the Hun, I will be focused on health care in Georgia.
TAPPER: But do you understand why so many people view any celebration of Fidel Castro as celebrating something ugly and tyrannical?
You mentioned it. Yes, I think you just called him a tyrant. He's -- he was a murderous thug. And I think -- I get that this is a distraction, but do you understand why people would be appalled by anyone celebrating Fidel Castro?
[09:50:03]
WARNOCK: Well, absolutely. And I never have. What I'm putting forward in this race is American values. Listen, in
no place other than America is my story even possible. I'm proud of my country. And what makes me love America is that, in spite of whatever challenges we have, there is always the path to redress our concerns, to make the country better.
I grew up in public housing. And here I am running for the United States Senate against the wealthiest member of Congress. I understand the struggles of ordinary people. And that's what this race is about.
TAPPER: Yes.
WARNOCK: America always has a path to lift people who are at the bottom, so that they can live the American dream.
I know that story. I am an embodiment of it. And I want to make sure that the kids that I run into, whose sense of hope has been eclipsed in this dark and difficult time, know that they have a path.
I am not going to give into the demagogues of division and distraction, people who have no vision, engage in division. I'm going to do the thing that I have been doing all my years as pastor of Martin Luther King Jr.'s church, bring people together, so that we can push through this terrible pandemic and get our country going again.
TAPPER: All right, Reverend Warnock, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today. We really appreciate it.
WARNOCK: Thank you.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source