ATLANTA (AP) 鈥 After spending months arguing that Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker is 鈥渘ot ready鈥 for high elected office, Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia is intensifying his critique ahead of Election Day to say the celebrity athlete is fundamentally unfit for Capitol Hill.
From a rally with former to a statewide bus tour that runs through the eve of Election Day on Tuesday, Warnock has hammered Walker as a 鈥減athological liar鈥 who has exaggerated his and and been and of despite his public opposition to the procedure.
鈥淭his is a man who lies about the most basic facts of his life,鈥 Warnock said on a stage he shared with Obama. 鈥淎nd now he wants the rest of us ... to somehow imagine now that he鈥檚 a United States senator. ... Herschel Walker is not ready. He鈥檚 not ready. Not only is he not ready. He鈥檚 not fit.鈥
Walker, who denies he's ever paid for any abortions, is sticking to an argument he鈥檚 made for months: that Warnock is a rubber stamp for President Joe Biden and a Democratic congressional majority that Walker blames for inflation, rising crime and a continued flow of immigrants across the U.S. border with Mexico.
鈥淗e talked about I鈥檓 not ready. No, you鈥檙e not ready,鈥 Walker answered Thursday in suburban Atlanta. 鈥淏ecause you either voted with Joe Biden 96% of the time, or you had no clue what you were doing. You pick which one you want 鈥 no clue of what you鈥檙e doing or you voted with him 96% of the time which is headed in the wrong direction.鈥
Those competing closing arguments reflect the increasingly personal nature of the Georgia contest and the wider national battle for control of Congress. Warnock and most Senate Democrats have steered clear of Biden and the national party brand amid generationally high inflation, urging voters instead to consider their choices between individual candidates. Republicans, in turn, have sought to nationalize Tuesday鈥檚 midterm elections as a referendum on Biden and his policies.
The Georgia matchup could help determine which party controls the Senate for the final two years of Biden鈥檚 term. The chamber is now divided 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris giving Democrats the tie-breaking vote.
Through the summer and early fall, Warnock, 53, typically avoided directly attacking Walker, 60. Instead, he suggested the celebrity athlete was simply not prepared for the Senate. Warnock spent more time especially infrastructure and economic development measures he worked on with Republicans, along with Democratic measures to cap insulin and other drug costs for older Americans who use Medicare.
But Warnock has stepped up his attacks since two women came forward in October to accuse Walker of encouraging and paying for their abortions when they dated the former professional football star. Walker, who supports a national ban on abortion, has called the allegations 鈥渇oolishness.鈥
The senator鈥檚 shifts have come alongside polls suggesting a close finish, with the possibility of a runoff; Georgia law requires a majority to win statewide office, and a third-party candidate in the Senate contest could keep Warnock and Walker below that threshold.
鈥淭his man says that he is in law enforcement. He鈥檚 not. In the FBI. He wasn鈥檛,鈥 Warnock told supporters last week during his bus tour, referring to some of Walker鈥檚 inaccurate claims. 鈥淗e said that he graduated from the University of Georgia. He did not. He said he was valedictorian (of his high school class). He wasn鈥檛. ... He said he had 800 employees. He only had eight.鈥
In DeKalb County outside Atlanta, Warnock mocked Walker for carrying an honorary badge, apparently given to him by a Georgia sheriff, as proof of his claims to have worked for years in law enforcement. 鈥淗e wears his lies quite literally as a badge of honor,鈥 Warnock told voters.
Warnock continued to take an aggressive tack Sunday in his hometown of Savannah, and he has Monday stops planned for Macon and Columbus, hiting Georgia鈥檚 largest metro areas beyond Atlanta. Asked why he鈥檇 waited so late to attack Walker directly, Warnock said it was in part because the second Walker accuser said in an interview that she 鈥渇elt threatened鈥 by Walker, who has admitted some violent tendencies in his past but said they were the result of mental illness that he now has under control.
Walker rejected Warnock鈥檚 criticism in a speech Thursday in Smyrna, north of Atlanta. He portrayed himself as the more honest candidate and said his debate with Warnock proved he鈥檚 up to the job.
鈥淚 took that man to school, I was the adult in that room,鈥 said Walker, who will close his campaign Monday in the GOP-leaning suburbs of Atlanta.
鈥淗e鈥檚 been talking about me. He even brought in a former president to talk about me,鈥 Walker said, referring to Obama鈥檚 Oct. 28 visit.
Walker said Warnock, who is the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, shouldn鈥檛 claim to have a Christian ethic while implying Walker doesn鈥檛 have one.
鈥淗e said I鈥檓 the liar. I said 鈥楴o, Senator, you鈥檙e the liar,鈥欌 said Walker, who . 鈥淵ou went to Washington saying you鈥檙e going to represent Georgia and you decided to represent Joe Biden.鈥
Walker also rejected Biden鈥檚 Wednesday speech . 鈥淗im being in Washington is the biggest threat to democracy,鈥 Walker said of Biden. 鈥淭he biggest threat to democracy is with Sen. Warnock being in Washington representing the great people of Georgia. He鈥檚 a big threat.鈥
Walker did not take questions from reporters and has not held an open press availability since the second abortion allegation, another point that Warnock sought to capitalize on ahead of Tuesday.
鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing stopping him from standing in front of a microphone like I鈥檓 standing right now,鈥 Warnock told reporters. 鈥淭he people of Georgia deserve to know what kind of man, what kind of person is he?鈥
More than 2.5 million Georgia voters cast advanced ballots, about 20% more than the number who voted early for the 2018 midterms.
