Sen. Raphael Warnock gave a rousing speech to Kennesaw State students today on the Kennesaw Campus Green as part of his campaign trail before the runoff election ends on Dec. 6.
Warnock spoke to a large crowd of over 200 students at a rally organized by the Young Democrats club at KSU. He touched on topics such as the block on student loan forgiveness, the price of insulin, women’s health and LGBTQ allyship.
He emphasized the victories he and Sen. Jon Ossoff celebrated on Jan. 5, 2021, in contrast to the insurrection of the Capitol the following morning. Warnock and Ossoff made history as the first African American and Jewish senators, respectively, to be sent to the Senate from Georgia. On Jan. 6, the Capitol building was breached by individuals believing that the 2020 presidential election should be invalidated due to alleged widespread voter fraud.
“The moral and spiritual work that we are called to do in this moment is to decide which America we are going to be,” Warnock said. “Are we the America of Jan. 5 or the America of Jan. 6? I choose Jan. 5. I choose an America that embraces all of us, all of our children.”
Warnock took a short period of time at the end of his address to the student body to speak to a small group of press, including The Sentinel.
The Sentinel asked Warnock what his plan is to continue to support students post-graduation other than his support for the student loan forgiveness program that was proposed in August. Warnock responded that he has taken legislative steps to support the affordability of housing, a bi-partisan committee for domestic manufacturing of microchips and expanding the technology industry in Georgia.
Kevin McCabe, a sophomore political science major, shared his thoughts on Warnock’s recent visits to college campuses across the state.
“Recognition is half the battle,” McCabe said. “Just recognizing that we’re here and that our voices are important really shows that his legislative priorities more align to ours.”
Warnock expanded on his support for student debt forgiveness and his time speaking to President Joe Biden to increase the debt relief to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. He also shared his experiences of being arrested twice, once at the Georgia governor’s office and again in 2017 in the rotunda of the Capitol building.
Warnock also spoke on his opponent, Republican newcomer Herschel Walker. He brought up Walker’s alleged history of inaccurate information during his campaigns, such as his claims of being a police officer, FBI agent and graduate of the University of Georgia. Warnock also made reference to Walker’s thoughts on the price gouging of insulin and climate change.
“We are one Georgia. We are one nation. We are one people,” Warnock said. “We got work done, but I know we still have a whole lot more work to do.”
Zae Brewer, the President of the KSU Young Democrats club, noted that KSU’s location in Cobb County, the third most populous county in Georgia, makes its voters a crucial part in which way an election swings.
“Vote, just go vote,” Brewer said.
Early voting is currently underway. Election day is Dec. 6 for voters’ final chance to cast their ballot for the Senate runoff.
