At the first runoff campaign event, Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker was joined by Sen. Ted Cruz with both men boldly predicting a GOP win in the runoff election.
Addressing a crowd of hundreds of supporters in Canton, Georgia, Walker said, “We are in overtime. We got a runoff. I was built for this. God prepared me for this moment right here.”
Canton, about an hour outside the City of Atlanta, is located in Cherokee County, a deeply red part of the state.
A source close to the campaign told CNN that hosting the event in Canton was part of Walker’s runoff campaign strategy to perform better in Republican counties where they underperformed on Election Day compared to incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who avoided a runoff.
During his address to supporters, Walker continued to attack his rival, Sen. Raphael Warnock, and President Joe Biden, telling a crowd of supporters that the two are in lockstep. Walker went so far as to warn the crowd not to fall for Warnock’s clean-cut image, calling Warnock a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
Meanwhile, Cruz went on the offensive, enthusiastically addressing the crowd saying, “I am here to tell you: On December 6th Herschel Walker is winning this race.“
Cruz rallied the crowd with references to immigration, inflation and grievances against the media in his 15-minute speech.
He boldly predicted the GOP would flip the Senate, claiming that there is no bigger divide between a senator and his constituents than in Georgia, referring to Warnock.
“The eyes of the country are upon you. The odds are high that control of the Senate will be decided by the men and women of Georgia,“ Cruz said.
When asked by CNN after the event if Cruz thought Walker should call on former President Donald Trump to visit Georgia to stump with Walker, Cruz said:
“Herschel has made clear he will welcome the support from President Trump who’s supporting him. He said he would welcome the support of Ron DeSantis. He will welcome the support of anyone coming to campaign.”