Coalition of Georgia Pastors Condemn Loeffler’s False Attacks on Reverend Warnock

In New Letter, More Than 100 Faith Leaders Say Loeffler’s Negative Attacks And Divisive Campaign Are “Full of Naked Hypocrisy,” An Attempt To Distract From Her History Of Associating With White Supremacists And Far-Right Extremists

A large coalition of more than 100 Black pastors condemned Kelly Loeffler’s negative  and divisive attacks in a letter  declaring they “had crossed a line” and calling on her to “cease and desist” the “false characterizations” of Warnock’s faith.

Kelly Loeffler’s false smears are a desperate attempt to distract from her appalling record. . Just days ago, Loeffler was caught posing for a photo with Chester Doles, a well-known white supremacist with ties to the KKK, the neo-Nazi National Alliance, and the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. And despite her campaign’s attempts to downplay the incident, “photos of Loeffler smiling alongside far-right extremists are not hard to find” and she has “repeatedly aligned herself with racists and far-right supporters” throughout this campaign. Loeffler’s record also includes sitting down for an interview with a media personality with ties to white supremacy and celebrating the endorsement of a QAnon supporter.

The scrutiny of Loeffler’s deceptive campaign comes as Georgians continue to cast ballots during the early in-person voting period.  Take a look at the latest coverage:

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Church leaders tell Loeffler to back off Warnock’s religious views

By Johnny Edwards

• A coalition of clergy members wants U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler to stop maligning her opponent’s progressive brand of Christianity, calling her attack ads against the Rev. Raphael Warnock also attacks on the Black church.

• “We call upon you, Kelly Loeffler,” said the letter from more than 100 religious leaders, “to cease your false attacks on Reverend Warnock’s social justice theological and faith traditions which visualizes a just and ardent world where love, fairness and equal justice under the law for marginalized people of all races is not only accepted as an authentic prophetic message in the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, but also a central message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

• The group told Loeffler to stop falsely calling the Rev. Warnock a “socialist” and a “radical,” saying there is nothing in his background, writings or sermons suggesting that to be the case.

• At the same time, they accused Loeffler of “naked hypocrisy,” pointing to her support for President Donald Trump’s failed attempts to challenge elections results in court. “What can be more radical, more seditious than supporting 59 attempts to overthrow the will of the people by tossing Black votes?” the open letter says.

• “You characterized these campaigns as mobs and lawlessness but remained silent on the antics of the Proud Boys, and the Wolverine Watchmen, both far right neo-fascist groups that engage in political violence, the latter of which attempted to kidnap the seated Governor of Michigan; an act for which 13 members have been indicted,” the letter says.

• Warnock’s campaign, meanwhile, points to the types of people who repeatedly show up to Loeffler’s campaign events and her penchant for winding up in photos alongside far-right extremists.

• Earlier this month, a photo emerged of Loeffler smiling alongside Chester Doles, a longtime white supremacist who spent decades in the Ku Klux Klan and the neo-Nazi National Alliance, was sentenced to prison for the 1993 beating of a Black man in Maryland, and who marched with a racist skinhead gang in 2017′s violent Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

New York Times: Georgia Pastors See Attack on Black Church in Campaign Against Warnock

By Rick Rojas

• A coalition of African-American pastors in Georgia assailed Senator Kelly Loeffler on Saturday, arguing that her characterizations of her opponent, the Rev. Dr. Raphael G. Warnock, had crossed a line and amounted to an attack on the Black church.

• “We call on you to cease and desist your false characterizations of Reverend Warnock as ‘radical’ or ‘socialist,’ when there is nothing in his background, writings or sermons that suggests those characterizations to be true, especially when taken in full context,” dozens of pastors from across Georgia wrote in an open letter to the senator. “We see your attacks against Warnock as a broader attack against the Black Church and faith traditions for which we stand.”

• “It is irresponsible, and we’re here to stand against it,” the Rev. Keith Hammond, a pastor from Atlanta, said during a news conference on Saturday.

• As the pastor of Ebenezer, Mr. Warnock has had one of the most prominent pulpits in the South, becoming one of the successors of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in leading a storied congregation that is deeply rooted in the civil rights movement.

• Jim Galloway, the dean of Georgia’s political press and a longtime columnist at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, argued in a recent column that such statements went beyond attacking a political opponent to “trashing the fragile relationship that Georgia Republicans have maintained with Ebenezer and, by extension, the King family.”

Washington Post: Loeffler’s barbs against Warnock are ‘a broader attack against the Black Church,’ Georgia pastors say

By Katie Shepherd

• More than 100 religious leaders condemned Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s campaign tactics in an open letter over the weekend that spurned her attacks on the Rev. Raphael Warnock (D) and claimed the Georgia Republican’s political ads were full of “naked hypocrisy” and “blatant contradictions.”

• In a letter first reported by the New York Times and signed by faith leaders in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Maryland and Colorado, the authors characterized Loeffler’s criticism of Warnock’s beliefs and sermons, which she has repeatedly cast as “radically liberal,” as an attack on the Black religious community in the state.

• “We see your attacks against Warnock as a broader attack against the Black Church and faith traditions for which we stand,” the letter said.
  
• “My faith is the foundation upon which I have built my life,” he said in a tweet. “It guides my service to my community and my country. [Loeffler’s] attacks on our faith are not just disappointing — they are hurtful to Black churches across Georgia.”

• In the letter, the pastors criticized Loeffler for her stance on the summer’s racial justice protests and for her failure to condemn far-right extremists.

• “Through your silence you demonstrated your disdain for Black elected officials and Black Lives Matter marches,” the letter said.

• Loeffler recently came under fire for taking a photo with Chester Doles, a white supremacist with ties to the Ku Klux Klan, the neo-Nazi National Alliance and the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. Doles, who went to prison for assaulting a Black man in 1993, told the Associated Press last week that he had renounced racism in recent years.

CNN: Coalition of Black pastors slam Loeffler campaign ads as a ‘broader attack against the Black Church’

By Caroline Kenny

• The coalition of pastors said in the letter that they see Loeffler’s attacks against Warnock “as a broader attack against the Black Church and faith traditions for which we stand.” The group called on Loeffler to stop her attacks on the Senate candidate.

• Warnock tweeted the New York Times article out earlier Sunday, saying, “My faith is the foundation upon which I have built my life. It guides my service to my community and my country. @KLoeffler’s attacks on our faith are not just disappointing — they are hurtful to Black churches across Georgia.”

• Warnock then responded to Loeffler’s tweet with a picture of Loeffler posing for a selfie with a former KKK leader after an event in Dawsonville, Georgia, two weeks ago.

The Hill: Georgia pastors blast Loeffler campaign criticisms of Warnock as ‘attack against the Black Church’

By Justine Coleman

• Georgia pastors blasted Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s (R-Ga.) campaign on Saturday for its criticisms of Democratic opponent Rev. Raphael Warnock, calling them an “attack against the Black Church.”

• “We call on you to cease and desist your false characterizations of Reverend Warnock as ‘radical’ or ‘socialist,’ when there is nothing in his background, writings or sermons that suggests those characterizations to be true, especially when taken in full context,” the letter said. “We see your attacks against Warnock as a broader attack against the Black Church and faith traditions for which we stand.”

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