'Georgia is very much in play' for Harris, says Sen. Warnock. Here's why

Georgia is one of a handful of states that could determine the winner of the 2024 presidential election. Geoff Bennett speaks with Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago for more.

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Geoff Bennett: Well, Georgia is one of a handful of states that could determine the winner of this year’s presidential election.

For more on that, let’s bring in Senator Raphael Warnock.

Welcome back to the “News Hour.” It’s good to have you here.

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA): Good to be here with you.

Geoff Bennett: So, Kamala Harris continues to cut into Donald Trump’s previous polling lead in key battleground states, to include Georgia. Is Georgia in play in 2024? Could Kamala Harris and Tim Walz win the state?

Sen. Raphael Warnock: Oh, absolutely. Georgia is very much in play. I think I know a little something about how to win that state. I have done it twice.

And as I move around the state, I was there at their first rally following the announcement that she would be the likely nominee. And you could not contain the energy and the excitement, not only in that room, but on the ground as I move all across Georgia.

And I have to say that the former president may be offering us a little bit of help as he flies into Georgia. And because he has no impulse control, he can’t help himself, he attacks the sitting governor of Georgia, who happens to be a Republican. While they’re focused on that internal fight and their problems, we’re going to remain focused on the problems of the people of Georgia, the problems of the American people.

Geoff Bennett: We spoke with South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn on this program last night, and he had something of a warning for the Harris campaign.

He said it’s great that they have had this historic fund-raising haul, but you just can’t spend that on TV ads and radio ads. You have to be in the communities. You just can’t talk about, for instance, the administration’s investments in HBCUs. You actually have to go to HBCUs and engage those students.

Do you see a campaign that is as aggressive to match the level of energy, for instance, that we have been seeing in this arena all week?

Sen. Raphael Warnock: Well, I think that Whip Clyburn is exactly right about that. You have got to be in the ground — in the ground. You have got to be in these communities.

I experienced that in my own campaign, and I think it’s an important playbook. People want to feel that you’re walking with them, even as you work for them. Now, we only have about 75 days. So those of us who are surrogates have to be in these places as well.

And I think that there’s a path to get that done.

Geoff Bennett: As we have been talking about in the program so far this evening, there is this undercurrent of division about the campaign’s approach to Israel policy, whether or not a Palestinian-American should be given a speaking slot on this stage.

In your speech Monday night, you spoke of wanting all of God’s children to be OK. You said poor inner-city children in Atlanta, poor children of Appalachia, the poor children of Israel, the poor children of Gaza.

How do you see this issue being resolved among Democrats? And do you think a Palestinian-American should have a speaking slot at this — at this convening?

Sen. Raphael Warnock: Well, listen, President Biden and Vice President Harris have been clear-throated that we need a cease-fire and we need an immediate cease-fire. And so that work continues.

If it were a simple issue, it would be resolved already. But, certainly, my heart goes out for the Palestinian people, who have endured so much pain during this war, and even prior to this war.

By the same token, you can’t help but feel your heartstrings being tugged as you watched that couple last night talk about their young son, who is now a hostage of Hamas. And so let’s end the war, let’s bring the hostages back home, and let’s find a path toward a two-state solution. That’s what we need.

That’s the only way that you can have a situation in which Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace side by side.

Geoff Bennett: In your DNC speech on Monday, you also issued a clear warning about GOP voter suppression efforts.

Georgia is in many ways ground zero for that effort. You have a number of Trump loyalists, right-wing Republicans who now have a majority on the Georgia State Elections Board. This is an unelected board. And they have approved rules that could delay the certifying of the vote if Donald Trump loses.

What is being done in Georgia right now to protect the integrity of the vote?

Sen. Raphael Warnock: Well, I want to underscore what you’re saying. They are literally changing the rules right now in the midst of an election.

By the way, that sounds like a desperate party. That sounds like somebody who knows they’re losing the argument. And so already they’re trying to position themselves not to certify a race whose results they do not like. It cannot stand. And part of what we have got to do is, we have got to have lawyers and we have got to have the infrastructure on the ground to challenge all of these machinations and — that I fully expect.

But we don’t agonize. We organize. And we have got to turn out our people so that our win is unassailable. At the same time, we have got to have the infrastructure on the ground.

Look, when we entered my second run-off for this last race, I literally had to sue the state of Georgia so that the people of Georgia could vote during the first weekend of the run-off. And then, when I won, they appealed and I had to win again. And then they appealed, and I had to win again.

And so we will remain vigilant both in terms of the legal side of this, as well as the electoral work that we have to do.

Geoff Bennett: I’m saving my most pressing question for last. We were talking earlier about how Georgia won the roll call on Monday night.

(Laughter)

Geoff Bennett: Lil Jon fired up the Georgia delegation during the DNC’s musical roll call. Where did this idea come from? Who had the idea to call up Lil Jon and do the roll call in that way?

(Laughter)

Sen. Raphael Warnock: Look, I wish I could take credit for that. But this is Georgia. This is how we roll, if you will.

(Laughter)

Sen. Raphael Warnock: We have moved from not, look, only did Georgia win the other night. I think, in the whole history of roll calls from John Kennedy to Lil Jon, Georgia wins.

Geoff Bennett: I do not think we can argue with that.

(Laughter)

Geoff Bennett: Senator Raphael Warnock, thanks so much for coming by. I appreciate it.

Sen. Raphael Warnock: Thank you so much.