Just before Christmas, police body camera footage emerged of Raphael Warnock's ex wife warning that her then-husband is not the man he portrays in public. "I’ve tried to keep the way that he acts under wraps for a long time and today he crossed the line," she told officers responding to a domestic incident call. "So that is what is going on here and he’s a great actor. He is phenomenal at putting on a really good show." Oulèye Ndoye alleged that Warnock ran over her foot with his car during a dispute, which Warnock denied. The couple has since divorced. In case you missed it -- and might have, given the lack of an aggressive media feeding frenzy -- here's the video:
Georgia Democrat Raphael Warnock's ex-wife on his character after he allegedly ran over her foot with his car:
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) December 23, 2020
"I've tried to keep the way he acts under wraps for a long time, & today he crossed the line... He is a great actor. He is phenomenal at putting on a really good show." pic.twitter.com/0SuLy1IPub
Warnock is generally refusing to talk about this, but his campaign did see fit to lash out at another woman, Sen. Kelly Loeffler, calling it "shameful" that the Republican dared to notice the tape. In a rare statement on the matter, Warnock himself blew it off, saying the tape of his ex-wife speaking with police about his conduct is merely evidence of Kelly Loeffler's campaign "playing games:"
Warnock also addressed the incident and told CBS46 that Loeffler is attacking his family close to the election and he is going to instead focus on Georgians and their needs. "I'm going to stay focused on my family which includes their mother and I'm going to stay focused on the people of Georgia who during a pandemic are still waiting on relief all these months later while politicians including Kelly Loeffler are busy playing games."
It's Republicans who are supposedly "attacking" Warnock's family by noticing this incident, you see. The attack apparently did not originate from the candidate whose wife told police on tape that he'd run over her foot while "putting on a really good show" for public consumption. And it's "shameful" of the GOP to talk about what happened. Imagine, just for a moment, if Warnock were a Republican. This race could well determine partisan control of the US Senate -- and therefore whether or not there's a meaningful check and balance against total Democratic dominance of the federal government. His state has become the epicenter of the political universe. Democrats' #MeToo posturing kicks into high gear whenever a conservative man is accused (with or without any evidence) of any sort of mistreatment of women. Accusers are to be believed, they gravely intone.
But those rules don't really apply to 'progressive' men, especially if the political stakes are high, as they are in Georgia. It is truly inconceivable that a GOP candidate in Warnock's position would be more or less permitted to stay silent on this matter, especially after the police footage came to light. Imagine the press accepting a terse statement from a Republican that effectively called alleged domestic abuse a 'distraction,' and shameful to bring up. But instead of a furious pile-on, coverage has been pro forma at best. Many journalists are eager to let this one slide by relatively unnoticed during the holiday season because it could imperil the electoral chances of their preferred party's candidate. This is now the state's largest newspaper framed the race the day after the video came to light:
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Ajc Metro this morning pic.twitter.com/JsXjSGuniT
— David Rutz (@DavidRutz) December 23, 2020
Beyond parody. The Republican is "losing her moderate image" and turning "hard right," while the Democrat is "enduring attacks." It's like a DSCC ad. The news media often serves as opposition researchers against Republicans and spokespeople for Democrats, so I'd be surprised if this story gets much play beyond right-leaning outlets -- via the Washington Free Beacon:
Among the indignities 12-year-old Anthony Washington endured at the church camp overseen by Reverend Raphael Warnock: counselors who tossed urine on him and locked him outside his cabin overnight. Washington, now 30, recounted the events in an interview with the Washington Free Beacon and said his experience at the camp resulted in a 2003 lawsuit that ended two years later, when Washington says he and his family received a large financial settlement. Washington’s account of the 2002 events provides the first direct insight into the alleged abuse and neglect that transpired at Camp Farthest Out, which Warnock oversaw as senior pastor of Maryland's Douglas Memorial Community church, and raises new questions for the Democrat, who is currently vying for a Senate seat in Georgia. Washington expressed surprise when he was told Warnock is currently running for U.S. Senate in Georgia. "I don’t think nobody like [Warnock] should be running for damn Senate nowhere, running a camp like that," he told the Free Beacon. "He should not be running for government."
Will this victim matter, or is he similarly inconvenient? Remember, Warnock was arrested for interfering with the initial investigation into this abuse. As for the big picture of the Georgia runoffs, Erick Erickson hears Republicans remain in pretty good shape based on the data, but Democrats are sounding bullish about new voters. And there's a reason President Trump's rally next week will take place in a very conservative part of the state, where turnout is seriously lagging:
Trump's rally will be held in the heart of deeply-conservative northwest Georgia territory that is lagging behind every other congressional district in the state when it comes to #gasen turnout. #gapol https://t.co/yr61fUeyn4
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) December 28, 2020
More than 2.1M Georgians have cast ballots in the #gasen runoffs, though the rate has slowed over the Christmas holiday as polls closed. Turnout rate is highest in the six Democratic-controlled congressional districts - and lowest in the NW area where Trump is to visit. #gapol pic.twitter.com/LROKiTsOdz
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) December 28, 2020
Georgians who do not wish to see Democrats in full control of government must turn out in force on or before January 5th. Parting thought on double standards: Have you ever heard about this regarding this man?
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