Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) skipped two Senate votes in June on days he was appearing on national media outlets to promote his new book.
Warnock’s missed votes on those days were related to an amendment to the PACT Act, which is a bill about veterans’ health care, and the confirmation of a nominee for the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The PACT Act amendment vote took place on June 13 during the same timeframe that Warnock made multiple media appearances that occurred in New York.
Those New York media appearances included Stephen Colbert’s the Late Show, CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, and, on the following morning, MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
The nominee confirmation vote took place on June 16, the same day Warnock participated in a nearly one-hour interview on C-SPAN’s After Words.
All of the media appearances promoted Warnock’s book, A Way Out of No Way: A Memoir of Truth, Transformation, and the New American Story, a memoir detailing his life trajectory growing up in the projects, working as a longtime pastor, and becoming Georgia’s first black U.S. senator.
In terms of total missed votes, Warnock is the 54th most absent member of the Senate, according to a ProPublica analysis.
The revelation of Warnock’s missed votes as they relate to Warnock building his national reputation first appeared in a Washington Examiner piece published Friday.
“Warnock, Republicans gleefully point out, is traveling the country to promote his book … and even missed a couple of Senate votes in June while on tour,” the Examiner reported.
Warnock is running in a tight battleground Senate race this year that could determine which party controls the Senate majority. Should he win in such a consequential election, Warnock would “immediately” become a contender for the presidency, the report asserted.
The Senate Leadership Fund, the PAC associated with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), was the first to detail Warnock’s national media appearances during the missed votes, concluding that Warnock neglected his home state as he was “seeking the national spotlight and a six-figure book advance.”
“Raphael Warnock took his eye off of Georgia, seeking the national spotlight and a six-figure book advance while his constituents suffer under some of the highest inflation rates in the country,” spokesman Jack Pandol said in a statement. “Georgia needs a full-time senator focused on bringing down costs, not someone focused on building his own national profile.”
Warnock is facing Republican Herschel Walker, a well-liked Georgia football legend, in the Peach State’s contentious Senate battle. Walker spokesman Will Kiley also blasted Warnock in a statement provided to Breitbart News, saying Warnock has demonstrated he is concerned with national stardom at the expense of Georgia constituents.
“Raphael Warnock cares more about himself and his book sales than serving the people of Georgia,” Kiley said.
He added, “Georgians deserve a Senator who shows up and does the job he was elected to do. If Raphael Warnock doesn’t want to do the most important part of his job then he should step aside.”
Breitbart News reached out to Warnock’s office for comment and did not receive a response.
Write to Ashley Oliver at aoliver@breitbart.com. Follow her on Twitter at @asholiver.