Republicans attack Rev. Warnock's faith after saying religion is off limits

Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler and five of her Republican colleagues have launched a series of attacks on Loeffler’s opponent, Democrat Raphael Warnock, for his religious views — months after expressing outrage at the mere idea of Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s religious views being used against her.

On Wednesday, several Senate Republicans and their campaign arm, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, called on Warnock, the senior pastor at the Atlanta-based church where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached, to drop out of his race against Loeffler.

They objected to an April 2011 sermon in which Warnock said, “America, nobody can serve God and the military. You can’t serve God and money. You cannot serve God and mammon at the same time. America, choose ye this day who you will serve. Choose ye this day.”

A Warnock spokesperson told Fox News that the comment was “based on a biblical verse” and part of a sermon about “the need to commit to moral life before pursuing other priorities.”

Loeffler, who was appointed to a vacant Senate seat last December, tried to frame the comment as an attack on service members and demanded Warnock apologize.

“I’m the daughter & granddaughter of veterans, and proud to serve on the VA Committee,” she tweeted. “@ReverendWarnock—this is despicable, disgusting, and wrong. You owe our active military & veterans—who sacrifice so much for our country—an immediate apology.”

That outrage directly contrasts Loeffler’s views from September, when she suggested that questions about faith were off limits during the Supreme Court confirmation process.

“The anti-woman and anti-faith attacks coming from the left are disgusting,” she tweeted, referring to what she claimed was pushback to Barrett’s Catholic faith during her confirmation hearing. “As a fellow pro-life Catholic and conservative woman, I am proud to support Judge Barrett and will stand with her no matter what outrageous smears the left throws at her.”

Of course Democrats did not actually make an issue of Barrett’s faith during her Supreme Court confirmation process. Seven senators brought up her religious views during the first day of her hearings — all seven of them Republicans.

A Loeffler spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the apparent contradiction — nor did spokespeople for five other Republican senators who made similar attacks on Warnock’s faith after decrying questions about Barrett’s.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) tweeted a video of Warnock’s sermon on Wednesday, writing, “Raphael Warnock’s radical, anti-American views are disqualifying. He should withdraw from the #GASen.”

In a September opinion piece, Blackburn objected to Democratic criticism of Barrett, saying it was only happening “because she’s a conservative woman of faith” and complaining that they “wouldn’t shy away from her deeply held religious beliefs.”

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) also tweeted the video on Tuesday, arguing, “This is an insult to everyone who served. Raphael Warnock should withdraw.”

Cotton angrily defended Barrett in his own September Fox News op-ed, writing, “Judge Barrett is a brilliant legal mind and strong conservative. She also happens to be a Christian mother of seven children. But Democrats and the media have insinuated with no evidence that she wants to turn America into a patriarchal theocracy along the lines of Margaret Atwood’s novel ‘The Handmaid’s Tale.’”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) tweeted Wednesday, “Not shocked #Georgia Democrat Senate candidate Raphael Warnock said ‘You cannot serve God and the military’ at the same time. These & even crazier things is what the radicals who control the Democratic party’s activist & small dollar donor base believe.”

Months ago, Rubio said in a statement endorsing Barrett, “Sadly, I expect my Democratic colleagues and the radical left to do all they can to assassinate her character and once again make an issue of her faith during her confirmation process.”

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) tweeted similar thoughts on Wednesday, citing Warnock’s sermon and claiming, “This is a disgrace. Every Senate Democrat should be asked whether they agree with Warnock. Every. Single. One.”

Scott said in an October Senate floor speech, “The Democratic attempts to attack Judge Barrett for her faith fell flat. Quite the opposite, her faith and her commitment to family have earned her the utmost respect.”

And Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) tweeted an attack piece last week against Warnock, accusing him of having an anti-white “spiritual mentor.”

“This from the party that says they seek ‘unity,’” Cruz wrote.

Cruz also complained in October that Barrett was the victim of a “religious smear” by the Washington Post, which had reported on her involvement with People of Praise, a Christian group that had designated her a “handmaid” at one point — the leadership title given to women in its ranks.

“Next, the Dems propose a test: if she floats . . . she’s a witch!” Cruz tweeted at the time.

Warnock received a plurality in the Nov. 3 Senate special election, but because no candidate received a majority, he will again face off against Loeffler in a January runoff.

Loeffler predicted on Monday that she will win that runoff because Georgia is a “red state.”

Democrat Joe Biden won the state in the Nov. 3 election by more than 10,000 votes.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.