Georgia Senate Democrat candidate Raphael Warnock has praised the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright on many occasions and praised Marxism as a way to “teach the black church.”
During the 2008 presidential election, Warnock appeared on Fox News to defend Wright after it was discovered that then-presidential candidate Barack Obama had close ties to the reverend.
Warnock hopes to unseat Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) during the January Senate runoff election.
During his March 2008 appearance on Fox News, he told host Greta Van Susteren that Wright’s legacy as a pastor was “social transformation that’s been the hallmark of Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s ministry.”
He added that this legacy of “social transformation” was “why we are happy to honor” Wright.
Warnock defended Wright’s “God Damn America” sermon as a form of “truth-telling,” which makes the United States “uncomfortable.”
The Democrat chided the media for the “constant playing over and over again of the same sound bites outside of context.” He also praised Wright as a “preacher and a prophet.”
During a February 2013 speech, Warnock defended Wright’s “God Damn America” sermon as a “very fine homily entitled on confusing God and government” and contended that the sermon was “consistent with black prophetic preaching.” He charged that the sermon was taken out of context and noted that the black church was “barely understood by mainstream America.”
Warnock, in writings, has also praised Marxism, including in the below excerpt:
To be sure, the Marxist critique has much to teach the black church. Indeed, it has played an important role in the maturation of black theology as an intellectual discipline, deepened black theology’s apprehension of the interconnectivity of racial and class oppression and provided critical tools for a black church that has yet to awaken to a substantive third world consciousness. Yet, Gary Marx’s analysis is flawed by a paternalistic bias with respect to faith, culture and experience that trivializes black struggle against the obduracy of white capitalistic forces and lumps all forms of black denominational and sectarian identity together in an undifferentiated way that hardly makes it possible for those who are its subjects to see themselves in the discussion. [Emphasis added]
…
Operating from a classic Marxist view of history and of religion as false consciousness, Gary Marx holds out for a time when “religion loosens its hold over these people, or comes to embody to a greater extent the belief that man as well as God can bring about secular change.”
Breitbart News also reported Tuesday that Warnock has ties to Cuban dictator and communist leader Fidel Castro.
Warnock’s ties to Marxism and Castro and his defense of Wright led the Loeffler campaign to release an ad on Tuesday slamming Warnock for sympathizing with Marxists and socialists.
The transcript of the ad reads:
NARRATOR: Meet Raphael Warnock. He wants you to know he eats pizza with a fork and a knife. He once stepped on a crack in the sidewalk. But Georgians don’t care about that. Georgians care that Raphael Warnock was a proud defender of anti-American, antisemitic pastor Jeremiah Wright, who suggested America deserved the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
WRIGHT: Not “God Bless America,” “God Damn America.”
WARNOCK: We celebrate Rev. Wright.
NARRATOR: Warnock said law enforcement officers are “gangsters” and “thugs” and a “danger” to children. He’s anti-Israel, anti-Second Amendment, sympathizes with Marxists and socialists, and wants to make your neighborhoods less safe. Don’t let him fool you with pizza and puppies — Raphael Warnock is too extreme for Georgia.
Stephen Lawson, the communications director for Loeffler’s campaign, said in a statement Tuesday, “Georgians need someone like Kelly Loeffler who has a record of results creating jobs and opportunities for hardworking families – not a radical socialist who cozies up to brutal dictators.”
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.