Herschel Walker, the GOP nominee for a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia, said people who are worried about the high cost of insulin should “eat right” in his only debate against Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) on Friday.
During an exchange about the economy and the high cost of living, Warnock touted his work passing legislation lowering prescription drug prices, including a $35 cap on monthly insulin costs. He noted that Walker had opposed the law, which is called the Inflation Reduction Act.
Walker responded by saying the Inflation Reduction Act had not reduced inflation. Then he argued that people who need insulin should think about eating better.
“I believe in reducing insulin but at the same time, you gotta eat right. I know many people that’s on insulin. Unless you’re eating right, insulin is doing you no good. So you have to get food prices down and you gotta get gas down so you can go get insulin,” the GOP candidate said.
Medical experts say that maintaining a healthy diet can reduce a person’s risk for Type 2 diabetes. But eating healthy wouldn’t help people with Type 1 diabetes, who can’t produce insulin at all and who are struggling to buy it.
The Georgia Senate race is one of the key battles in the upcoming election that could determine control of the Senate. Warnock, a pastor who won his seat in a 2021 runoff, is seeking his first full term in office.
Public polling has shown Warnock with a small but consistent lead over Walker. If neither candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in November, there will be a runoff.
The expectations were low for Walker heading into Friday’s debate. The former football star himself admitted that Warnock would best him on a debate stage. “I’m not that smart,” Walker said last month. But the Republican challenger was aggressive and mostly held his own against the incumbent senator. He didn’t faceplant like Democrats were hoping for.
The moderators never really pressed Walker to explain reports that he paid for a former girlfriend to get an abortion in 2009, despite claiming to oppose abortion. Walker again denied it ever happened, and the debate moved on to other topics.
In one notable exchange, a moderator reprimanded Walker for flashing a “prop” police badge after Warnock dinged him for pretending to be a police officer.
