U.S. Senate candidate and Georgia Agriculture Commissioner, Gary Black, joined the Todd Starnes Show to explain why Herschel Walker is not the right man for the job.
LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH GARY BLACK ON THE TODDCAST PODCAST BELOW:
Below is a rushed transcript from Gary Black’s interview on the Todd Starnes Show Thursday:
STARNES: Well, look, when I was at our Faith and Freedom celebration at Truett McConnell University last weekend, I met some folks who said, Todd, you’ve got to get this guy on the program because he is going to make a great senator from the state of Georgia. And so, we did a little bit of homework, and we were able to work out the schedule to get Gary Black, who was the Georgia Agriculture Commissioner, Gary Black, now running for the U.S. Senate as a Republican from the state of Georgia. He is on the Patriot mobile newsmaker line. Mr. Black, good to have you with us today.
BLACK: Todd, it’s Gary. And thank you for providing this great opportunity, and I’ve got to ask for forgiveness. I did from Dr. Cantor because I think we shared a table last year or the year before last year, Cantor’s vulnerable event. We’ve not had too many campaign goof ups so far, but I had to beg my dear friends that we had a little cross-up on the schedule. So, I’m sorry I missed you. Last week was a wonderful event, but it’s a great honor to be with you and thank you for keeping the conscience of America sound. I just appreciate what you do.
STARNES: Well, you’re kind to say that, and I’m intrigued because I’ve had a chance to look at your record, and you are one of these rock-solid conservatives out there. What is interesting about the Georgia situation is you have President Trump embracing Herschel Walker, and that’s got a lot of conservatives in the state talking and really trying to figure out where this campaign is going. So, first of all, I want you to weigh in on this. Herschel Walker issue. He has certainly never been in politics before, and he does have the support of President Trump. Is that a problem for you?
BLACK: No, no. It’s not a problem at all because I agree the personnel committee of the State of Georgia will walk into the voting booth, and they’re going to hire who they want to do this job. And, you know, I’m not running for football player. I’m not the one you want on the field. But I believe Georgians are going to choose someone with experience, someone that has that record that you spoke of, which I appreciate, and can stand on the issues and actually take the fight to the other side. It is said they want to fundamentally change America. They told us that. I’ve got a rubber stamp United States senator that’s doing everything this person tells him to do right now. And we’re seeing this erode in front of our eyes every evening. The moon’s pillars of the country are shaking. And I just don’t think it’s time for an experiment. We better have someone that has the experience to take the fight to them from armed services and agriculture. Those two things are still important for the state of Georgia. And then they’re just; I’m intrigued when people want to come in off the sidelines. Todd, I have never been on the sidelines in my whole career. I’ve been fighting for conservative values and making sure we have Republican leadership in Georgia, doing so as the Commissioner of Agriculture. And that record is going to prove. We have smart people in Georgia, and we’ll make the appeal to them. I believe that when they choose who they are going to hire, they are going to hire me.
STARNES: I will say this, and of course, we are big fans of President Trump on this radio program. The president’s been on this show but he’s he has a bad habit of getting bad advice on statewide picks and going with those picks. And I think that that has hurt Georgia in the past, especially on the Senate side. And I hope it doesn’t come back and bite folks again because based on what I’ve seen, you certainly had the credentials you would be the ideal Republican conservative candidate to lead the party there in the U.S. Senate from Georgia.
BLACK: Well, thank you, Todd. We’ve got great grassroots that we’re building what we call team 22: far more than a tiny chair, far more than a single candidate to win this race. And so, our team 22 is based on 159 communities in Georgia. Some of your listeners might not know we have that many counties, but we do. Benefiting those counties, we have 22 organizing committees we’re striving for in every county. I just left a manual building where the excitement is very high. I’m thankful that sheriff Brewer was there in the meeting, but we have endorsements of over half of those Sheriffs. Well, we stand with law enforcement, 55 of our elected Republicans on our team. So, we thought we were grassroots politics, understanding and actually listening, actually asking people to vote for you. And that’s what I’ve always done. I don’t know any other way.
STARNES: Here’s what gets me. Here’s what gets me, Gary. Herschel Walker has been sort of quiet. We haven’t heard a lot from him, and that kind of bothers me. I’d like to hear, you know, is this guy a conservative, in your estimation?
BLACK: Well, I don’t, I don’t know. I’ve invited. We invited him on his way back. Welcome him back to Georgia. We were classmates. And I would just love a discussion of the issues. When we do that, we’re going to be very creative. We’re going to solve the issues that I think are important for Georgia, like having a fearless approach to national security for our nation, both here and at our borders. This is why border policies are so important. We have got to return to them. I have been a big advocate of the president’s position on that. When we have security in our homes, my goodness. We are run with liberals running the cities. People are afraid to come out at their front door and stand with law enforcement—the next generation of folks that would have a home. The economy, this tax bill that they’re about to place on the next generation I believe, is going to wake some people up. And it’s buyer’s remorse that is going to come to our side. But the last one is security at heart. Security of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Life starts at conception, period. Liberty is undergirded by our constitution; the second amendment has allowed that. Pursuit of happiness, that’s private property and our ability to have income and raise a family and pass it on to the next generation. That’s the guarantee of it. But the pursuit of it is what you have got to go and defend, and that’s precisely what we’re doing in this campaign. And that is why we are going to win.
STARNES: All right, Gary, one final question: where can people go if they want to get more information about you and the campaign? Where can folks go to check that out?
BLACK: Well, thank you. Thank you, Todd. It’s votegaryblack.com. All of our issues, all our position is there for you. So my background and my wonderful family for bringing all this together. But I am grateful to you. Again, thank you for what you do for the country and for making their message all across this land. And I hope this won’t be the last time we will be able to get together. And I thank you for connecting the dots with some of our mutual friends.
STARNES: Glad. Glad to do it, Gary. Good luck to you out there on the campaign trail, and we’re definitely going to get you back on the program. And again, God bless you, Gary. And folks, this is not about celebrity, and it just cannot be about celebrity. And I would just direct your attention to Kelly Loeffler and that disaster of a campaign. So, I don’t know who’s giving Donald Trump these names and telling him, here’s who you need to endorse. But I wish he wouldn’t do it. I think in this one, it was a little different because he had a long-standing relationship with Herschel Walker. And look for me, the million-dollar question is, is Herschel Walker a conservative? Yes, or no? And then I like to see the record. That’s all. And I think that is a fair thing to ask. I never take anybody’s word for granted, nobody. You know, that’s one of the things I learned as a journalist. You do your homework, and you research these people. I’ve had a chance to research Gary Black. He is the state agriculture commissioner. I will say this, more people, probably from a grassroots perspective. Yes, everybody knows Herschel Walker. But you know what, they know Gary Black because he’s been there. He’s been on the farms. He’s been shaking hands. He’s been working out issues in the state. So, he’s been putting in his time there, but it’s going to be a tough race, but for me, I don’t care who you are. I want to see your record. And the idea that we have, and again, Herschel Walker is not out there. He’s not out there talking about the issues like Gary is. So, there you go.