Raphael Warnock accepts Herschel Walker debate offer on one condition

ATLANTA, Ga. (CBS46) - U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock has agreed to debate the GOP challenger to his reelection effort, UGA football legend Herschel Walker, after several weeks of back-and-forth accusations between the two campaigns.

On Wednesday, Warnock’s campaign said the senator would debate Walker in a Savannah debate hosted by Nexstar, if Walker would agree to debate Warnock at the Mercer University Center for Collaborative Journalism held in Macon on October 13 or the Atlanta Press Club debate on October 16.

Warnock proposed those two debates several weeks ago, with no response from Walker’s campaign.

Walker’s campaign has proposed Oct. 14 as the Savannah debate.

Let’s lock down Savannah Oct 14th, Senator. I don’t care what the topics are. It’s a fair debate. Open to the public. Televised statewide. And it’s not run by your donors. You in? Let’s do this for the people.
— Herschel Walker (@HerschelWalker) September 7, 2022

After they won their respective primaries, Warnock challenged Walker to three debates. Walker’s campaign said he looked forward to debating the Democratic incumbent, but did not specify any dates at that time.

Warnock’s campaign is accusing Walker of agreeing to the Nexstar debate in Savannah only if Walker is given a list of topics before the event.

I don’t need debate topics. We all know @ReverendWarnock stands with @JoeBiden on everything so no surprises there.

I’ve accepted the Savannah debate without conditions. He should too. But he’s playing games. Let’s do this debate for the people. Ball is in his court. #gasen
— Herschel Walker (@HerschelWalker) September 7, 2022

“The job of a U.S. senator isn’t one where you know the topics ahead of time or get a cheat sheet, and Herschel Walker shouldn’t need one to find the courage to walk on a debate stage,” said Quentin Fulks, Warnock’s campaign manager.