Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walkerâs effort to lower expectations ahead of his debate by stating he is ânot that smartâ is triggering some leftist commentators.
Elie Mystal, a justice correspondent at The Nation and regular guest on MSNBC, went off on a truly bizarre rant about Walkerâs comments.
During an interview with SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah, Mystal reacted to the Georgia Republican stating that he expects Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) to âshow up and embarrass me at the debate.â
âOkay. So thatâs Herschel Walker talking about the debate with Senator Warnock. He actually gave us the date October 14th. He like pimped the date there to make it exciting for people,â Obeidallah said.
He asked, âSo whatâs the game here in our last two minutes? Herschel Walker really lowering the bar, guy who won the Heisman who got Pro Bowl in the NFL. You got to learn a lot of plays to do that. You got to know a lot. Itâs not a game.â
His question led Mystal to go on what can only be described as an unhinged and utterly bizarre rant.
ââIâm just a poor country senatorial candidate who isnât that smart and doesnât know a lot about a lot of things. But what I do know is that I should be your senator so I can represent you in Congress, even though I donât know stuff like a nice suit would know because apparently, suits have brains now. I donât know a lot of stuff,'â Mystal said, imitating Walker.
He continued as he raised his voice, âBut I know that I should be your senator so I can vote exactly like Mitch McConnell tells me to vote. Because Iâve just told you I am too stupid to figure it out for myself!â
Watch the spectacle below:
Mystal suggested the first goal of Walkerâs comment is to lower expectations to improve the odds that he will be seen as beating expectations in the debate.
And the second part is where things got weird.
âBut the other thing is to remind these white MAGA, bigoted Southerners that, âDonât worry, theyâre not electing a black man thatâs going to be able to think for himself, that he is too stupid to do anything but vote in the way he is told to vote by his white superiors,'â Mystal said, adding, âTwo things with one dumb-ass press conference.
Let us just take a moment to reflect on the fact that if this unhinged rant escaped from Obeidallahâs mouth about a Democrat, he would be branded a racist and canceled.
His comment completely rules out the concept of sarcasm or that Walker has any agency of his own. To imply someone who is Republican and not white is stupid and lacks agency is just wrong and offensive. And implies only people of a certain color can support certain policies â which is kind of racist.
Walkerâs comments were interesting â to put it mildly â and probably not the best. However, they were also clearly a way to lower expectations ahead of the debate.
But when you make everything about race, then everything has some secret mischievous racial undertone. And you ignore the possibility that Walker is advancing policy proposals not just because he wants to win an election, but because he actually believes in them. It also rules out the possibility that Georgia voters like Walker could care less if he was white or Black.
And hey, when you think all Republicans are racist, extremists determined to usher in a world that looks like âThe Handmaidâs Tale,â what does reality matter to you?