Warnock called senators 'gangsters & thugs' who are 'willing to kill children'

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Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Rev. Raphael Warnock compared the U.S. Senate to “gangsters and thugs” who were “willing to kill children” with the passage of major tax cuts.

The reverend, who is running to unseat GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler in a special runoff election, made the comments during a fiery sermon in early December 2017, shortly after senate lawmakers voted to pass a sweeping tax overhaul worth roughly $1.4 trillion.  

Democrat Georgia Senate challenger Rev. Raphael Warnock arrives to vote at the C.T. Martin Natatorium and Recreation Center in Atlanta on the first day of early voting for the senate runoff Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. (AP)

“While others were sleeping, members of the United States Senate declared war, launched a vicious and evil attack on the most vulnerable people in America,” Warnock said at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he has been the senior pastor since 2005.

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He likened the U.S. Senate to Herod the Great, the despotic ruler depicted in the Bible as having ordered the execution of all male children two years and under around the time Jesus was born.  

“Herod is on the loose. Herod is a cynical politician, who’s willing to kill children and kill the children’s health program in order to preserve his own wealth and his own power. Hope is in the air, but Herod is on the loose,” Warnock said.

“On Friday night, the United States Senate decided by a slim majority, to pick the pockets of the poor, the sick, the old, and the yet-unborn, in order to line the pockets of the ultra-rich,” Warnock said. “Don’t tell me about gangsters and thugs on the streets. There are more gangsters and thugs in Washington, D.C.”

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The Washington Free Beacon was the first to report on his 2017 sermon. Warnock's press office did not respond to Fox News' request for comment.

With the Jan. 5 special runoff election now less than a month away, Warnock's past comments are coming under increased scrutiny. 

Reacting to Warnock's incendiary remarks on the U.S. Senate, Jessica Anderson, Executive Director of Heritage Action for America, said the reverend "has used his pulpit for hatred for years, and we're seeing more of that hate revealed every day." 

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"He used the Christmas season to compare conservatives to Herod and say we want to 'kill children' for passing tax reform," Anderson said in a statement to Fox News. "As a mother who pushed for those tax cuts to help save middle-class taxpayers $1400 each, I find it astonishing and disappointing that the Left wants to send this radical to Washington. Georgians should keep this in mind on January 5."