Senator (and Rev.) Raphael Warnock isn't discouraging any talk of a presidential run in 2028, a black minister like Jesse Jackson trying for the White House.
On Sunday, CNN’s State of the Union with Jake Tapper hosted Warnock and began by discussing whether the Democrast aren't investing enough resources in the South. He joked he was "nauseously optimistic" Democrats would get the job done.
The conversation quickly shifted to Tapper and Warnock accusing Republicans of Islamophobia and religious bigotry, while ignoring the controversy surrounding Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s political associations. Tapper began:
CNN: Warnock Accuses Republicans of Islamophobia and Bigotry #cnn #jaketapper #democrats #republicans #midtermelection #news https://t.co/IgGkrhil9f
— Sarah (@scbpoli) November 4, 2026
TAPPER: You're a man of faith, so you see the intersection of politics and faith all the time. There's another Democratic pastor, Adam Hamilton, running for the U.S. Senate in Kansas. Senator Ted Cruz, your colleague in the Senate, who like you is a Baptist, he was in Kansas. I want to play a little bit of what he had to say about Adam Hamilton. Take a listen.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): And he says, "when we get to Heaven, there will be Muslims, and we can hug and embrace them, and they will be welcomed in Heaven." It's an interesting idea. We show up there in Heaven, first thing you see is Osama bin Laden.
TAPPER: What's your response to that?
This could be an occasion for a Christian pastor to address the Bible and discuss whether Muslims who haven't accepted Jesus will get into Heaven. Sen. Cruz was making a joke in a broader context. Obviously, mass-murdering terrorists shouldn't be expected there.
Tapper cut the Cruz remarks off for political effect. Cruz went on to point out lamented that Hamilton said from the pulpit, “Jesus is one way to get to Heaven, but he’s not the only way.” He pointed out that Hamilton is contradicting what Jesus says in the Bible: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.”
Instead, Rev. Warnock knew CNN didn't want to discuss theology on a Sunday, so he accused Cruz of "bigotry" and "Islamophobia," and compared it to anti-black racism in the South:
WARNOCK: It's bigotry, pure and simple. Religious bigotry is bigotry. And the Republicans know that they're losing the argument. It's just deeply disheartening, though not terribly surprising, that they are trying to stir up these old demons.
Listen, I'm a proud American, as is Abdul. There is no religious test for citizenship in America. And there's no religious tests to hold office. And, as a Christian pastor, I take no comfort in this kind of Islamophobia, in this kind of bigotry of lifting up the worst example of someone who claims a faith and trying to conflate that as the faith itself. As an African-American, I know bigotry when I see it. We have to resist it, reject it. America is so much better than this.
Tapper let Warnock rant and failed to mention Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan’s association with the left-wing streamer Hasan Piker. Piker, who El-Sayed campaigned alongside, has faced widespread criticism for boldly saying “America deserved 9/11.” So how can he be sold as a "proud American"?
Click Expand to view the transcript:
CNN's State of the Union
November 1, 2026
JAKE TAPPER: Joining us now, Reverend and Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, who we're catching on his way to church. Thank you so much, Senator and Reverend. We appreciate it. So, the most frequently texted phrase in politics in the news media, probably in your phone right now, is, what are you hearing? So, Senator Warnock, I will ask you what everyone's asking me. What are you hearing?
SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA): Well, thank you so very much, Jake. Great to be with you. Listen, I am seeing a lot of energy on the ground. As you point out, we're seeing record voter turnout. I think Georgians understand the assignment. They are being crushed by these tariffs that are raising the price on everything. They want to put an end to this war, which is spiking the cost of gas, and they want to make health care affordable.
And so they know that the only way to do that is to hold Donald Trump's enablers in Congress accountable and to send somebody like Keisha Lance Bottoms to the governor's mansion. And I think we're on track. I am nauseously optimistic that we're going to get this done.
TAPPER: So Democrats are also optimistic about putting some deep red Republican states in play, but you have expressed deep concern that Democrats are still not investing enough in the South. Mississippi Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom said in an interview Friday that -- quote -- "Mississippi has never been a lost cause. It's been a betrayed cause" -- unquote -- because Democrats don't bother to try to win there.
If Colom doesn't win on Tuesday, will that be because Democratic leaders didn't listen to you or Scott Colom and take the South and the opportunities there for Democrats seriously enough?
WARNOCK: Listen, the road to a sustainable Democratic majority runs straight through the South. Democrats are not investing enough in the South, but we're moving it in the right direction, I think, with some pushing and urging by me and others. Here is the thing. Mississippi is a blue state that just needs to be organized. And I think that Scott Colom can win there.
I think he can win this year. But whether he wins or not, here's what Democrats ought to be doing. We ought to be investing in Mississippi the very next day. We have been through this in Georgia. There were times, remember, over the last decade or so, when folks kept asking, is the Georgia miracle going to happen? Can they move it? Can they turn the page? And there were years when it was like Lucy and the football.
But the mistake we make is that, when we don't get the outcome we want, we lean back, rather than leaning in. Mississippi is a blue state. And what you see in Georgia, the dynamics, many of those dynamics are there. We ought to be investing the next day, regardless of the outcome, because a ceiling of 52 for Democrats in the Senate is unsustainable and unacceptable.
TAPPER: You're a man of faith, so you see the intersection of politics and faith all the time. There's another Democratic pastor, Adam Hamilton, running for the U.S. Senate in Kansas. Senator Ted Cruz, your colleague in the Senate, who like you is a Baptist, he was in Kansas. I want to play a little bit of what he had to say about Adam Hamilton. Take a listen.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): And he says, when we get to heaven, there will be Muslims, and we can hug and embrace them, and they will be welcomed in heaven. It's interesting idea. We show up there in heaven, first thing you see is Osama bin Laden.
TAPPER: What's your response to that?WARNOCK: It's bigotry, pure and simple. Religious bigotry is bigotry. And the Republicans know that they're losing the argument. It's just deeply disheartening, though not terribly surprising, that they are trying to stir up these old demons.
Listen, I'm a proud American, as is Abdul. There is no religious test for citizenship in America. And there's no religious tests to hold office. And, as a Christian pastor, I take no comfort in this kind of Islamophobia, in this kind of bigotry of lifting up the worst example of someone who claims a faith and trying to conflate that as the faith itself. As an African-American, I know bigotry when I see it. We have to resist it, reject it. America is so much better than this.
