On Monday, Senator Reverend Warnock joined the AJC’s Politically Georgia team live from Savannah to discuss his bipartisan efforts to deliver for Georgians as Congress crafts federal policies for aviation, health care, workforce development, and more

Senator Reverend Warnock also discussed the stakes for Georgians in the 2024 election

The episode was filmed in front of a live audience of over 400 Georgians in Senator Reverend Warnock’s hometown of Savannah

Senator Reverend Warnock was joined by the AJC’s Bill Nigut, Patricia Murphy, Tia Mitchell, and Greg Bluestein for the extended conversation on his service for Georgians and bipartisan policy initiatives

ICYMI from the AJC: U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock maintains balancing act between politics and ministry

Senator Reverend Warnock to Politically Georgia: “I honestly believe that having been a pastor and continuing to serve as a pastor for many years has made me a better senator. Those two roles are connected for me, and I said to the people of Georgia on election night in 2022, ‘ I will always walk with you as I work for you”

LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE HERE

Above: Senator Reverend Warnock joins the AJC’s Politically Georgia team live from Savannah

Savannah, GA – On Monday, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) joined a live recording of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s (AJC) Politically Georgia show in his hometown of Savannah, Georgia to discuss his bipartisan efforts in Congress to deliver for Georgians, as well as his moral vision for America in the upcoming 2024 election. The Senator was joined by the AJC’s Bill Nigut, Patricia Murphy, Tia Mitchell, and Greg Bluestein, as well as a live crowd of over 400 Georgians.

“I honestly believe that having been a pastor and continuing to serve as a pastor for many years has made me a better senator, and serving in the Senate gives a reverend a whole lot to preach on. In fact, I understand sin now better than I ever did,” said Senator Reverend Warnock. “Those two roles are connected for me, and I said to the people of Georgia on election night in 2022, that my promise is that I will always walk with you as I work for you. The truth is change is hard, there are things I am working on right now that have taken a long time, like Medicaid expansion.”

During the extended interview, the Senator shared his perspective on the stakes for Georgians in the upcoming presidential election and discussed his bipartisan work with Republican lawmakers like Katie Britt (R-AL), John Kennedy (R-LA), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and others to address issues impacting Georgians including maternal mortality, making insulin affordable, investing in Georgia’s infrastructure, and more.

Left: Senator Reverend Warnock during the taping of AJC’s Politically Georgia live show

Right: Senator Reverend Warnock embraces a Georgian joining the AJC’s live show in Savannah

Listen to and read about Senator Warnock’s live interview HERE.

Key excerpts from Senator Warnock’s interview can be found below:

“I honestly believe that having been a pastor and continuing to serve as a pastor for many years has made me a better senator and serving in the Senate gives a reverend a whole lot to preach on. In fact, I understand sin now better than I ever did. Those two roles are connected for me, and I said to the people of Georgia on election night in 2022, that my promise is that I will always walk with you even as I work for you.”

“The truth is change is hard, there are things I am working on right now that have taken a long time, like Medicaid expansion. I’ve been working on Medicaid expansion for a decade, long before I came to the Senate. It shouldn’t have taken this long, all you need is the folks under the Gold Dome to say “Yeah we’ll do what almost every other state in the Union has done – red and blue, and they haven’t.”

“Pastors don’t get to choose who comes through the door, parishioners get to decide whether to come to church, but we don’t get to decide who to embrace, we embrace all who come through the door, and that is how I approach my politics.”

“There are things that are part of my core, but I work all the time with people with whom I disagree with 90 or 98 percent of the time. If I can find something I can work on with them, for example, the work that I’m doing to cap the cost of insulin at $35, I got it done for seniors two years ago, now I have a bipartisan bill that would cap the cost of insulin at $35 for all Americans, I’ve got Republican Senators on that bill, Senator Kennedy of Louisiana is on that bill, both of the Alabama Senators are on the bill, J.D. Vance is on that bill.”

“Investments in our children are investments in the future of our country. I’m a Head Start alum, I was a free lunch kid, and in high school, I was in the Upward Bound program, which put a kid who grew up in the Kayton Homes on the campus of Savannah State during the summer. […] I never wondered if I belonged on a college campus because I was already on one, it makes a huge difference.”

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