Loeffler, Warnock square off in U.S. Senate runoff debate; Perdue no-show

U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler and her Democratic challenger, Rev. Raphael Warnock, squared off on stock trades, police support and election integrity in a debate Sunday night, Dec. 6, ahead of the Jan. 5 runoff election.

Hours earlier, Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff, who owns an investigative journalism company, debated by himself Sunday (Dec. 6) after incumbent U.S. Sen. David Perdue declined to participate, saying two debates with Ossoff before Nov. 3 election were enough.

Victories for both Warnock and Ossoff would give Democrats control of Congress and the White House following President-elect

Joe Biden’s win over President Donald Trump last month – though Trump has refused to concede as he continues promoting claims of election fraud.

The importance of Georgia’s Senate runoffs for American government took center stage Sunday night (Dec. 6) as Loeffler warned Democratic control of Washington, D.C., could spur radical policies while Warnock urged his opponent to stop entertaining Trump’s divisive actions.

While Ossoff stood alone for his Atlanta Press Club debate, Loeffler and Warnock took turns lobbing attacks at each other and playing defense in a race that has drawn hundreds of millions of dollars in spending for television ads, socialmedia outreach and get-out-thevote efforts.

Loeffler, a wealthy Atlanta businesswoman, batted down allegations she profited from insider information on the risks of COVID-19 before the pandemic took hold in March to make controversial stock trades, saying federal investigators found no evidence of wrongdoing.

“I’ve been completely exonerated,” Loeffler said. “Those are lies perpetrated by the left-wing media and Democrats to distract from their radical agenda.”

Warnock, who is the senior pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist

Church, has been bashed in attack ads for his past comments criticizing bad-actor police officers whom he described as having a “thug mentality,” as well as his past support for the firebrand Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Following his campaign’s strategy, Warnock on Sunday (Dec. 6) dismissed attacks from Loeffler and her GOP allies as distractions aimed at stirring emotions in voters rather than engaging in policy details.

“It’s clear to me that my opponent is going to work really hard spending millions of dollars of her own money trying to push a narrative about me,” Warnock said. “She’s clearly decided that she does not have a case to be made for why she should stay in that seat.”