U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock’s identity as senior pastor at the iconic Ebenezer Baptist Church has always been a core part of his campaign for public office and his tenure in Congress. It’s also why his recent criticism of the former president’s latest sales pitch to Christians carries more weight.
Warnock was invited to appear on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Easter Sunday to discuss the role of religion and Chrisitanity in today’s political landscape. That’s when he was asked about Trump’s latest sales pitch to supporters to buy Trump-licensed “God Bless the USA Bibles” for $59.99.
“The Bible does not need Donald Trump’s endorsement,” Warnock said on CNN. “And Jesus in the very last week of his life chased the money changers out of the temple, those who would take sacred things and use them as cheap relics to be sold in the marketplace.”
Credit: Patrick Semansky/AP
Credit: Patrick Semansky/AP
Trump began promoting the Bibles on social media days before Easter as he faced a $454 million judgment in his civil fraud case that required he post a $175 million bond. He also recently posted a separate $91.6 million bond in a defamation case brought by E. Jean Carroll.
The Bible’s website states it “is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign” but that it uses Trump’s name, image and likeness under a licensing fee. That means the former president likely gets a cut of profits from the sales. Warnock said Trump crossed a line, even if “none of us are surprised by this.”
“The folks who buy those Bibles might actually open them up, where it says things like thou shalt not lie, thou shalt not bear false witness, where it warns about wolves dressed up in sheep’s clothing,” he said. “I think you ought to be careful. This is risky business for somebody like Donald Trump.”
Warnock’s CNN interview is his most recent national appearance after following a mostly Georgia-focused press strategy for the first several years of his tenure. His role as a senator, prominent Black pastor, and the only statewide Democrat elected in Georgia in 2022 are combining to make him a top asset for Democrats nationally and a voice the White House is increasingly relying on as Biden’s reelection contest in the state draws closer.
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Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
PRITCHARD STAYING PUT. Brian K. Pritchard, the first vice chair of the Georgia Republican Party, tells the AJC he isn’t resigning from his post, despite calls from U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to step down. Greene’s push came last week after a judge ruled he violated state election laws when he voted nine times while serving probation for a felony check forgery sentence.
Pritchard said has offered “full transparency” about his past, that he briefed statewide party leaders shortly after he won the post in June and discussed it in direct conservations with dozens of county and district leaders.
“I haven’t broken the rules, I didn’t mislead the leadership,” said Pritchard, a conservative online radio host. “If they felt something needed to be done, they haven’t let me know.”
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Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
PUB DATE. U.S. Rep. Jody Hice lost his 2022 GOP primary challenge to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. But he never stopped talking about the 2020 elections, which he insisted during his campaign that Trump won, despite multiple counts, recounts and investigations that proved otherwise.
Hice’s new book, publishing today, “Sacred Trust: Election Integrity and the Will of the People,” keeps the theme going. Part memoir, part 2020 autopsy, Hice calls the conduct of elections “an 800-pound gorilla in our national home.”
A publisher’s note about the book describes Hice this way: “From his first day in office, he experienced direct and relentless pressure from career bureaucrats, even in his party, to subvert the will of the American people.”
That publisher is Humanix Books, a subsidiary of NewsMax Media, which says it specializes in books for “patriotic, independent, free-thinking Americans.” Other recent books from Humanix include Blitz: Trump Will Smash the Left and Win; The Return: Trump’s Big 2024 Comeback; and Killing the Deep State: The Fight to Save President Trump.
Along with writing books, Hice is also a top advisor at Tony Perkins’ conservative Family Research Council and president of its Washington-based lobbying arm, FRC Action.
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Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
RAFFENSPERGER CURBS LARRY DAVID. The final season of Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” on HBO features a trip to Georgia, where David’s character is arrested and booked for giving water to a voter waiting in line to cast a ballot.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has now sent a letter to David, detailing what the Georgia law does and does not say about giving voters snacks and drinks (it’s forbidden within 150 feet of a polling place unless you’re an election worker). A sample:
Mr. Larry David:
As the chief elections officer for the State of Georgia, we'd like congratulate you on becoming the first, and to our knowledge, only person arrested for distributing water bottles to voters within 150 feet of a polling station. We apologize if you didn't receive celebrity treatment at the local jail. I'm afraid they've gotten used to bigger stars. It's the TMZ of mugshots.
Greg Bluestein has the backstory on why the show came to Georgia in the first place and plans to return for David’s day in court.
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Credit: AP
Credit: AP
ABORTION RIGHTS. Florida’s top court on Monday allowed a state law to ban abortion after six weeks of pregnancy to go forward in a decision that found the state constitution’s privacy protections don’t apply to the procedure.
But the Florida Supreme Court released a separate, simultaneous ruling that allowed a 2024 referendum on a constitutional amendment that would preserve the right to abortion “before viability,” which is typically defined as roughly 22 weeks of pregnancy.
The dual rulings ensure that abortion will be on the ballot in Florida in more ways than one. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have sharply competing stances, with Biden supporting expanding rights and Trump backing restrictions.
In Georgia, the state’s top court allowed a law that restricts most abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy while a lower court considers a separate question of whether the state constitution protects a right to privacy and whether that encompasses abortion. But there won’t be a direct referendum on the Georgia ballot for voters to have their say one way or another.
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Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
LISTEN UP. Today on the “Politically Georgia” radio show, House Speaker Jon Burns will join to discuss the bills that passed, the ones that failed and what stands out for him from his first session as Speaker. The show will also feature Rep. Jasmine Clark, D-Lilburn.
Listen live at 10 a.m. on 90.1 FM, at AJC.com and at WABE.org.
If you missed Monday’s show, immigration attorney Chuck Kuck discussed the immigration-related bills that passed the General Assembly this year. And professors Amy Steigerwalt from Georgia State University, and Andra Gillespie and Alan Abramowitz, both from Emory University, broke down the political impact of the latest session now in the books.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Credit: Mark Wallheiser/The New York Times
Credit: Mark Wallheiser/The New York Times
ROLL ’EM. Among the bills that did not pass the Legislature this year was a measure to modify the previously uncapped state tax credit for film productions in Georgia. The generous incentives have been a boon to movie studios and local economies, but at a significant cost to the state budget.
The New York Times has a deep dive on the city of Thomasville, a hamlet so picturesque it’s been a natural choice as a Hollywood movie set. The Times writes about the enormous economic boost to the area’s economy, not to mention sightings of Dustin Hoffman at local coffee shops, along with the money the state of Georgia has been spending to keep productions coming.
More:
“Between 2015 and 2022, Georgia paid out more than $5.2 billion in tax incentives for filming, according to data obtained by The New York Times. State estimates project that the program will cost Georgia another $2.5 billion altogether for 2023, 2024 and 2025.
J.C. Bradbury, an economics professor at Kennesaw State University who has studied the state's program, estimated that the $800 million in tax credits Georgia handed out in 2018 cost each household $220. That fiscal year, the state planned to allocate less than $300 million from its general fund to its Department of Public Health.
“I would be happy driving a Ferrari," Professor Bradbury said, “but I don't buy a Ferrari because I'd rather have the other things that $500,000 could buy."
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Credit: Evan Vucci/AP
Credit: Evan Vucci/AP
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- The White House has no public events today.
- The House and Senate are both out of session for a two-week Easter recess.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. As we’ve discussed, nobody may be happier that the session is over than the patient pups of Georgia politicos, who finally get their people back and, now, walks before midnight.
One of the happiest is Dunkin Ray, the coffee-and-cream-colored golden retriever who calls the Ray family of Atlanta, including George Ray, his people. As a lawyer and lobbyist with Nelson Mullins, George logged plenty of hours for his clients at the Gold Dome, but not as many with Dunkin.
With the Legislature adjourned Sine Die, George can go back to runnin’ with Dunkin’.
Send us your dogs of any political persuasion, and cats on a cat-by-cat basis, to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us at @MurphyAJC.
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AS ALWAYS, Politically Georgia readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.vanbrimmer@ajc.com.
