CNN
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Former President Barack Obama described Herschel Walker as “a celebrity who wants to be a politician” during a Friday night speech in Georgia and praised the Republican Senate nominee as “one of the best running backs of all time” but as someone unequipped in the US – Become a senator.
Obama went down point by point against Walker, calling him “someone who carries around a fake badge and says he’s like a kid playing cops and cops in law enforcement,” and attacked his “character issues” and his “habit.” “Not telling the truth,” describing him as someone who will be so loyal to former President Donald Trump, “that means he won’t really be thinking about you or your needs.”
The speech, the former Democratic president’s first full foray into campaigning in 2022, framed the midterm as an electoral choice “between politicians who seem willing to do whatever it takes to come to power and leaders who want our… Sharing values you see and care about you.”
“Almost every Republican politician seems obsessed with two things — owning the freedoms and getting approval from Donald Trump,” Obama said. “That’s their agenda, it’s not long, it’s not complicated and at least for me it’s not very inspiring. They are not interested in actually solving problems. They are interested in making you angry and finding someone to blame. Because that way you might not realize they don’t have their own answers.”
Obama was greeted with thunderous applause at the Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Georgia. At several points he delivered one of his old campaign classics: “Don’t boo, vote!”
Acknowledging the economic headwinds Democrats faced in November, he said: “Listen, inflation is a real problem right now. It’s not just in America, it’s worldwide. It is one of the legacies of the pandemic.”
But he suggested Republicans hadn’t offered any policies or plans of their own, saying, “Republicans talk about it a lot, but what’s their response? What is their economic policy?”
But Obama’s most astute comment was aimed at Walker, calling his race against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, who is key to controlling the evenly divided Senate, a “study in contrast.”
The comment began with a compliment from Walker, a legendary University of Georgia football player who won the 1982 Heisman Trophy.
“Now there are a lot of young people here, yes, I’m happy about that. Some of you may not remember, but Herschel Walker was a hell of a football player,” Obama said. “He was incredible in college. One of the best running backs of all time. But here’s the question: Does that make him the best person to represent you in the US Senate? Does that equip him to influence the critical decisions about our economy, our foreign policy, and our future?”
Obama then joked that just because Walker won the Heisman, the audience won’t let him fly a plane they were on or let them operate without knowing if he qualified.
“By the way, the opposite is also true. Maybe you liked me as president, but you didn’t want me to start with the dogs in a traffic jam,” he said. “I mean, can you imagine my slow old skinny butt getting hit by a 300lb defensive tackle driving a 4.6 40 (yard dash)? You would have to scrape me off the field. no i can’t no i can’t I’m good at a lot of things, but that wouldn’t be one of the things I’m good at.”
But then Obama laid himself in the Republican.
“There is very little evidence that he has shown any interest, has bothered to learn about public service or volunteerism, or has shown any inclination to do so,” Obama said, later nodding to Trump, arguing, Walker seems to be a “celebrity who wants to be a politician and we’ve seen how that’s done.”
Obama then addressed Walker’s “character issues,” an apparent reference to allegations that he paid two women to have abortions.
Walker, who has previously campaigned for a national ban on abortion without exception, has denied the claims.
Obama said Walker had “a habit of not telling the truth, a habit of saying one thing and doing another, a habit of having certain rules for you and your important friends and different rules for everyone else.”
“That says something about the kind of leader you’re going to be,” he added. “And if a candidate’s primary qualification is that they will be loyal to Donald Trump, that means they won’t really think about you or your needs.”
Obama wasn’t the only Democrat to escalate rhetoric against Walker — Warnock also used his speech introducing the former president to name his Republican opponent.
Reflecting Democrats’ concern that the race is close, Warnock urged Georgians to consider the consequences of the election, saying: “One vote is your vote, your vote is your human dignity.”
In his speech, to thunderous applause from the crowd, Warnock confronted his rival head on – echoing Obama’s criticism that Walker was not ready.
“Put simply, Herschel Walker is not ready,” Warnock said. “He’s not ready. He’s not ready. Not only is he not ready, he is not fit.”
Warnock, who said his Republican opponent struggled with the truth, later added: “If we can’t trust him to tell the truth about his life, how can we trust him to tell our lives and our families and our children.” and protects our jobs and our future?”
Obama spent less time focusing on Republican Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, though Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams spoke during the event. Obama pointed to some of the electoral legislation that Kemp and Georgia Republicans passed after the 2018 election, but it was far less direct.
Instead, the former president offered broader thoughts on the midterms.
“I understand why people are afraid. I understand why you might be concerned. I understand why it might be tempting to just switch off and watch football or ‘Dancing with the Stars,'” Obama said. “But I’m here to tell you that turning off is not an option. Desperation is not an option. The only way to make this economy fairer is if we all fight for it. Democracy can only be saved if we cultivate and fight for it together.”
He added: “The fundamental question to ask yourself right now is: Who is going to fight for you? Who cares about you? who sees you who believes in you That is the choice in this election.”
Though Obama spent less time in the gubernatorial race, the arena erupted in chants of “Stacey! Stacey! Stacey!” as Abrams took the stage in front of the former president. Citing the history of Obama’s own election in 2008 — and re-election in 2012 — she implored voters to believe she can overtake Kemp, who polls say has an advantage in the race.
“We’ve defied the conventional wisdom of creating a generational shift,” Abrams said, “and we’re about to do it again, Georgia, we’re about to do it again.”
She added: “We have defied history time and time again and we will do it on November 8 because that’s who we are. We are Georgia and we believe in ourselves and we believe in tomorrow.”
Hours before Obama arrived, long lines formed around the Gateway Center Arena in College Park, just outside of Atlanta. Aid workers with clipboards and laptops walked through the crowd signing people up for volunteer campaign shifts to go door-to-door this weekend.
Above all, according to the officials, the event was intended as an organizational tool.
“Having President Obama here shows that we’re still fighting, we’re pushing toward Election Day,” Rep. Nikema Williams, who is also the leader of the Georgia Democratic Party, told CNN. “It’s about bringing people together and engaging voters who are still looking for inspiration in this election cycle.”
As of Friday, more than 1.3 million people in Georgia had voted, with a week remaining in the early voting deadline, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
Inside the arena, a DJ warmed up the capacity crowd of about 6,000, with Democrats waving signs for Warnock, Abrams and other state and local candidates on the ballot.
“Vote early, now through November 4th,” yelled large blue signs around the arena. “Election day: November 8th.”
