A month out from the 2022 midterm elections and Herschel Walker, a prospective Georgia Senate candidate, could not stay out of the headlines after a story, which the Republican denied, claims he paid for a woman to have an abortion. Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre appeared to be in overdrive covering for her boss, President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden, meanwhile, put aside his differences with Florida Gov Ron DeSantis (R) for a hurricane stop before warning of “Armageddon” later in the week. Here are the quotes of the week.
“That is not what the vice president said. She was clearly talking about long-term investment, not FEMA aid for hurricane response efforts. The vice president and the president have been clear that the federal government has been and will continue to be there for all Americans.”
- Karine Jean-Pierre clarifies Vice President Kamala Harris’s comments about equity and hurricane relief.
“The last administration, as I said at the top, restricted [the] ability for Puerto Rico to access $5 billion in funds. And so that’s including for critical recovery and reconstruction needs, and so that’s what we saw in the last administration.”
- Jean-Pierre takes a shot at the Trump administration’s response to Hurricane Maria five years ago.
“It’s an effort to say, ‘We’re still here, and we want renewed dialogue.’ It’s an attention grab.”
- John Nilsson-Wright, a senior research fellow at the British think tank Chatham House, tells NBC News what he thinks the North Korean missile over Japan was about.
“Nobody in my party will say that’s unacceptable. Everybody ought to be asked whether or not that’s acceptable, and everybody ought to be able to say no.”
- Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) joined the multitude of voices condemning former President Donald Trump’s recent attack on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and his wife.
“This is a flat out lie and I deny this in the strongest possible terms.”
- Georgia GOP Senate hopeful Herschel Walker denies a report alleging he paid for a woman to have an abortion.
“When the Democrats are losing, as they are right now, they lie and cheat and smear their opponents. That’s what’s happening right now. They know they are on the verge of losing the Senate, and they know that Herschel Walker is winning, so they have cranked up the smear machine.”
- Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who helms the GOP Senate campaign arm, backs Walker amid the allegations.
“Everything has been a lie, and so for the Right to say, ‘I’m being suspicious’ … you have no idea what I’ve been through in my life. You have no idea what me and my mom have survived. We could have ended this on day one — we haven’t.”
- Christian Walker, Herschel’s son and a conservative activist, speaks out against his father in wake of the revelations.
“Herschel Walker is being slandered and maligned by the Fake News Media and obviously, the Democrats. Interestingly, I’ve heard many horrible things about his opponent, Raphael Warnock, things that nobody should be talking about, so we don’t. Herschel has properly denied the charges against him, and I have no doubt he is correct. They are trying to destroy a man who has true greatness in his future, just as he had athletic greatness in his past.”
- Former President Donald Trump offers a full-throated defense of onetime Celebrity Apprentice contestant Herschel Walker.
”But, you know, oftentimes you see that, but you don’t say, ‘Oh, he’s going to be governor.’” He said, ‘I’d love your endorsement.’ I said, ‘Ron, you’re at 3%. You can’t win.’ He said, ‘If you endorse me, I can.’ And I said, ‘Well, look, you never know, but it’s not going to be easy.’ This guy’s been running for eight years.”
- What Trump told New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman for her book Confidence Man about Ron DeSantis before he became governor of Florida.
“I think he’s done a good job.”
- President Joe Biden on DeSantis’s response to Hurricane Ian.
“A very famous pollster … said, ‘Sir, if George Washington and Abraham Lincoln came alive from the dead and they formed a president-vice president team, you would beat them by 40%.’”
- Trump could have beaten them all, per Trump.
“We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis.”
- Biden delivers a stark warning during a fundraiser.
“I think every Republican knew that there was baggage out there. But the weight of that baggage is starting to feel a little closer to unbearable at this point.”
- Georgia Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan says Herschel Walker’s scandals are becoming insurmountable.
“I’m pro-life and that means I believe in limits. Now, I support exceptions because I don’t believe in being extreme on this issue. Sen. Mark Kelly is the abortion radical. Sen. Kelly, in Washington, he voted — no, actually he sponsored — a bill that would have mandated legal abortion nationwide — get this — up until the moment of birth. Take a second to think about how truly radical that is.”
- Arizona’s Republican Senate candidate, Blake Masters, tussles with incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly during their only debate.
“We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture, nor do we have indication that Russia is preparing to imminently use nuclear weapons.”
- Jean-Pierre again appears to go into damage control mode for her boss after his nuclear comments.
“Let me start off with two words: made in America.”
- Biden’s latest word salad results in more mockery from the usual suspects.
BIDEN: “Let me start off with two words: Made in America”
Math is hard.
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 7, 2022
