Georgia Debate: Democrat Raphael Warnock Evades Challenge to Denounce Socialism, Marxism

ATLANTA — Georgia Democrat Senate candidate Rev. Raphael Warnock would not respond to a question during the Senate runoff debate Sunday evening about whether he rejects socialism and Marxism.

During the debate, hosted by the Atlanta Press Club at Georgia Public Broadcasting’s studio, Republican candidate Sen. Kelly Loeffler posed the question to Warnock about socialism and Marxism following a number of Warnock’s sermons, speeches, and writings surfacing that embrace facets of the controversial ideologies.

“Rev. Warnock, in your writings and your teachings, you’ve repeatedly praised Marxism and the redistribution of income,” Loeffler said. “Can you here and now for all Georgians renounce socialism and Marxism?”

Warnock has supported policies of Congress’s most progressive politicians, such as initiatives within the Green New Deal and government-run health care, he has been endorsed by self-proclaimed democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for his positions, and he has been linked to communist Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. In writing, Warnock has also described the usefulness of the Marxist ideology within the black church.

While Warnock first responded to Loeffler, “I believe in our free enterprise system,” he quickly segued into his work to aid people with their finances during the Great Recession and did not mention socialism or Marxism.

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Warnock responded, in part:

Listen, I believe in our free enterprise system, and my dad was a small business owner, and during the Great Recession, you know what I was doing? I was leading my church to build a community center, where, among other things, we had a financial literacy center that taught people how to repair their credit, create a 700-credit-score community, how to create a business, how to buy a home, how to participate in our free enterprise system.

Warnock then went on the offense and repeated the false claim that Loeffler made stock trades earlier this year because of privy knowledge about coronavirus. The Senate Ethics Committee dismissed the accusation because of a lack of evidence, and Loeffler has consistently denied wrongdoing.

Loeffler replied to Warnock, “Well, predictably, you’ve just heard more lies from radical liberal Raphael Warnock, who wants to distract from his own words.”

Write to Ashley Oliver at aoliver@breitbart.com.