Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock face off in bizarre debate

Herschel Walker and Sen. Raphael Warnock during their debate.
(Image credit: Screenshot / MSNBC)

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) faced off against his Republican opponent for the Georgia Senate seat, Herschel Walker, during the pair's only scheduled debate on Friday. The race has become among the most closely watched of the upcoming midterms, and Warnock looked to increase his reported four-point lead in the polls against Walker.

The raucous debate was a chance for Walker to defend himself against numerous allegations that have come out against him, specifically that the staunch pro-life candidate had paid for the abortion of a woman he got pregnant in 2009. Walker continued to deny the allegations. He also attempted to tie Warnock to President Biden's sinking approval numbers and rising inflation.

Warnock, meanwhile, lambasted Walker for having "a problem with the truth," pointing to a number of claims made by Walker about his personal life that have been shown to be untrue. The pair also sparred with one another over issues such as Medicaid expansion and support for law enforcement.

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The most notable moment of the night, though, occurred when Walker appeared to flash a fake police badge to back up his claims that he was previously in law enforcement, something The Atlanta Journal-Constitution confirmed to be untrue.

The Wall Street Journal noted that Georgia could see a rare split decision among the state's top offices. While Walker appears on track to lose his Senate bid, GOP Gov. Brian Kemp is leading in the polls against his Democratic challenger, Stacey Abrams.

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Justin Klawans, The Week US

 Justin Klawans has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022. He began his career covering local news before joining Newsweek as a breaking news reporter, where he wrote about politics, national and global affairs, business, crime, sports, film, television and other Hollywood news. Justin has also freelanced for outlets including Collider and United Press International.