On Deck: 2022

[lpetrich]

 Mehmet Oz - Mehmet Cengiz Öz - /'mehh-met 'dZen-giz öz/ - the vowel in his last name pronounced like German ö / French eu -- lips like "o", mouth interior like "e". The C is English "j": /dZ/, like the C in Cenk Uygur's name.

False and Baseless Medical Claims From Dr. Oz, GOP Senate Candidate

1. Oz pushed hydroxychloroquine to fight the coronavirus, even though its effects were still unproven.
2. Oz repeatedly claimed that raspberry ketones are 'the No. 1 miracle in a bottle to burn your fat.'
3. Oz has said astrological signs "may reveal a great deal about our health."
4. Oz told viewers that green coffee extract "has scientists saying they've found the magic weight-loss cure."
5. Oz said most countries require genetically-modified foods to have special labels.
6. He's also said umckaloabo root extract "has been incredibly effective at relieving cold symptoms" even though it isn't.
7. Oz recommended using lavender soap to cure leg cramps.
8. A strawberry-and-baking-soda mixture can whiten teeth, Oz said.

He was a good heart surgeon, but that's like Ben Carson being a good neurosurgeon. The two of them ought to have stuck to surgery, because they made absolute fools of themselves in their post-surgery careers. Ben Carson saying that the pyramids of Egypt were granaries? Ben Carson's bizarre theory about the pyramids, explained - Vox That's an elementary mistake about them.

 

[lpetrich]

Home - Dr. Oz for Senate -- Dr. Oz has replaced his TV-show pages with campaign pages.

Today, America’s heartbeat is in a code red in need of a defibrillator to shock it back to life.

Many of us feel like we’re in the adjacent operating room, armed with insights and already scrubbed up but reluctant to leave our quiet, serene setting for the chaos next door. But for me, stepping into the political arena is the right thing to do.

In our time of need, we want to be surrounded by people of action more than armchair intellectuals, because a great surgeon never censors ideas and never shuts off the light that shines on our wounds, which is what happened while our nation battled the pandemic.

Huh? What?

The urgency of my decision crystalized during the pandemic. At least half a million American people have died from the virus, a devastating toll for families and communities. What also hurts is that many of those deaths were preventable.

Because of the policies of his party's de facto leader, Donald Trump.

(lots of crybaby victimhood snipped)

Including sneering at "elites", the same people that right-wingers normally whine are "successful" and whine about how hard they supposedly worked.

America should have been the world leader on how to beat the pandemic. Instead, we were not. That’s not the America my parents came to. That’s not the one I grew up in. That’s not the one I want to leave behind.

In this emergency, we needed capable leaders ready to act—and we didn’t get that. The entire situation angered me. Sometimes, in medical emergencies, we will need to operate with swift and decisive action. Sometimes, we can use less invasive medications to correct course. Sometimes, we will use preventive health to stop problems from even emerging in the first place.

Like lower-face masks, like what he and his assistants would wear when they did surgery. Not willing to acknowledge that is a big hole in his campaign pitch.

In his "Issues" page, he states about how he would respond to COVID-19:

Dr. Oz is a world-class heart surgeon who holds numerous patents and has written hundreds of original peer reviewed publications. He knows the truth, the data, and the science about combatting COVID and understands how it really affects you and your family. While elites with yards tell those without yards to stay inside (where the virus was waiting) and mask up, Dr. Oz has been putting his expertise to work on behalf of us. Dr. Oz is opposed to prolonged business shutdowns, and he believes it is critical to keep our children in school because the science overwhelmingly supports it.

That's an ignorant comment. Staying indoors in one's home is a way of staying away from other people, just as the "elites" so easily do.

 

[lpetrich]

On fixing healthcare, Dr. Oz states

As a doctor, Oz has seen the inside of the massive health-care industrial complex and knows how they work with lobbyists and powerful special interests to protect it. He’s bravely argued against costly drugs, even as it made him a target of drug companies. As a U.S. Senator, he’ll work to dismantle policies that lead to more expensive prescription drugs for our seniors, and he’ll expand access to private sector plans expanded by President Trump and beloved by seniors for their low costs and high quality that could be available to all Americans who want them.

In effect, Obamacare / Romneycare / Chafeecare / Heritagecare

As to bringing down the prices of prescription drugs, Kyrsten Sinema campaigned on doing that, then stopped doing that after receiving campaign contributions from drug companies. I wouldn't be surprised if MO ends up doing the same, be silenced by drug-company lobbyists' money.

"Dr. Oz is a successful heart surgeon – he has literally held a beating heart in his hands. He knows how precious life is and is 100% Pro-Life." -- anti-abortion.

"Dr. Oz also believes that the extreme left wants to use our schools to indoctrinate our children with an anti-American ideology –and as Senator he’ll fight to block that from happening." -- whatever counts as "anti-Americanism".

While he supported leaving Afghanistan, he strongly opposed the way President Biden surrendered to the Taliban and the tragedy that ensued with our soldiers." -- what would he have done instead? It's the same problem with the other Republican critics of that evacuation. They don't say what they would have done differently.

"Get tough on China"

 

[lpetrich]

Neera Tanden on Twitter: "The debate we deserve: Dr. Oz versus Marianne Williamson." / Twitter
then
Jen Perelman on Twitter: "If Neera Tanden is trolling Marianne Williamson, the Dem establishment must fear her running in 2024. IJS." / Twitter

 

[ZiprHead]

GOP Congressman Devin Nunes will leave House to work for Trump media company

Trump Media & Technology Group made the announcement. Nunes is leaving before his term ends.

www.cbsnews.com

California Representative Devin Nunes is leaving Congress to be the CEO of former President Donald Trump's media company, the company and Nunes said in a statement Monday.

Nunes, one of Trump's biggest allies in Congress, was first elected to the House in 2002 and had been the chair of the powerful House Intelligence Committee in 2015 when Republicans held the majority. But he was forced to recuse himself from that committee's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election amid an investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics into whether he had leaked classified information.

Nunes is the 12th House Republican to leave during the 2022 election cycle. He's the second to resign before his term ends. Ohio Congressman Steve Stivers was the first after he took a role with Ohio's Chamber of Commerce.

I hope he gets paid up front.

 

[lpetrich]

David Perdue officially announces run for governor in Georgia, setting up primary challenge to Brian Kemp - CNNPolitics

Former US Sen. David Perdue officially announced his run for governor of Georgia on Monday, launching a primary challenge to sitting Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in a state that has been trending away from the GOP for years.

"I'm running for governor to make sure Stacey Abrams is never governor of Georgia," Perdue said in a video posted on his campaign website.

He lost to Jon Ossoff early this year.

 

[lpetrich]

Inside Dr. Oz’s Shameless Flip-Flop on Abortion - "Dr. Oz claims to have seen up close what happens when women are forced to get unsafe abortions. But now that's he's running for Senate, he's fine with overturning Roe v. Wade."

But only two years earlier, Oz characterized efforts to overturn Roe as a misleading and possibly conspiratorial crusade. Not only was Oz supportive of abortion rights, he seemed puzzled that people would spend time fighting abortion rights—going so far as to say that, as a physician, he was “really worried” about the anti-abortion movement and that eliminating Roe would have negative effects on women’s health.

“It’s, as a doctor—just putting my doctor hat on—it’s a big-time concern,” Oz said in the 2019 interview, which aired on the Breakfast Club radio show. “Because I went to medical school in Philadelphia, and I saw women who had coat-hanger events. And I mean really traumatic events that happened when they were younger, before Roe v. Wade. And many of them were harmed for life.”

Oz conceded that abortion “is a hard issue for everybody,” and he said that, on “a personal level,” he disliked abortion and would not want anyone in his family to have one. But he took a common pro-choice position in 2019 that his belief should not be forced onto others. He would not want to “interfere with everyone else’s stuff,” he said, “because it’s hard enough to get into life as it is.”

What a humbug.

But then again, Rep. Nancy Mace sounded both anti-vax and pro-vax on the same day, wearing the same shirt and with her mic clip in the same place on Fox and CNN.

 

[lpetrich]

Manchin and Sinema get star billing in Pa. Senate race - POLITICO

One candidate promises he won’t be a centrist Democratic senator like Joe Manchin or Kyrsten Sinema. Another proudly declares he’s no socialist, and knocks the liberal “Squad” members who voted against the bipartisan infrastructure deal.

...
The frontrunner in the Democratic contest, Pennsylvania’s Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, anchors one end of the ideological pole. He is harshly critical of the role that Manchin and Sinema have played in opposing major parts of President Joe Biden’s social spending bill. At the other end is moderate Rep. Conor Lamb, who has positioned himself against the party’s left wing.

Two other liberal contenders, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta and Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh, are also taking shots at Manchin.

...
Fetterman, a progressive who endorsed Bernie Sanders in 2016, is a tattooed, six-foot-eight former mayor of a struggling steel town. His supporters argue that he can win back working-class white and rural voters who’ve fled the Democratic Party with his populist message and not-your-typical-politician persona.

Lamb, who won a district that Trump carried by about 20 points, also makes the case that he has the ability to flip white working-class as well as suburban voters. But he cuts a more moderate profile. He personally opposes abortion (though he has voted to support abortion rights) and is a vocal critic of defunding the police. To him, Manchin is not a dirty word — he recently held a fundraiser with the West Virginia senator.

Both Fetterman and Lamb are from the Pittsburgh-area. Arkoosh and Kenyatta hail from the Philadelphia-area, on the other side of the state.

So it's JF, MK, and VA on the left and CL on the right. Let's see if any of JF, MK, and VA will be willing to drop out to avoid splitting the left-wing vote. Ranked-choice voting would be great, because it would make multiple candidates more able to compete without vote splitting -- voters can vote for some candidates as fallbacks for other candidates in case those others don't win.

 

[lpetrich]

Trump’s 2022 Endorsements Are Earlier, Bolder And More Dangerous Than When He Was President | FiveThirtyEight

1. He’s endorsing earlier than usual

So far in the 2022 midterm cycle (as of Dec. 7), he has endorsed 46 candidates in Republican primaries to fill roles in the U.S. Senate, U.S. House and state governorships. That’s more than three times the number of candidates Trump had endorsed by the end of December 2019.

2. He’s taking more risks with his endorsements

Back in 2020, he endorsed 113 candidates in GOP primaries for Senate, House, and governor, 21 unopposed, 67 incumbents, and only 25 non-incumbents in contested primaries. Only 22% were risky.

But so far, he has endorsed 21 contested-primary non-incumbents out of 46, meaning that 46% are risky.

What’s more, Trump has actively tried to unseat 10 incumbent members of his own party: He has endorsed primary challengers to Rep. Liz Cheney, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Idaho Gov. Brad Little, Rep. David McKinley,2 Rep. Peter Meijer, Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Fred Upton, and he also endorsed challengers to Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and Rep. Anthony Gonzalez — before both announced they would not seek reelection (decisions that may have been influenced by Trump’s opposition). Opposing the reelection of an incumbent from your own party is quite rare, even for Trump. In 2018 and 2020 combined, Trump endorsed only two candidates who were challenging incumbents: Katie Arrington against Rep. Mark Sanford of South Carolina and Kris Kobach against Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer.

Among his endorsees for is Kari Lake for AZ Gov. She is a news anchor who quit to run for Governor. Trump likes her because she believes that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen from Trump.

Part of Trump's endorsements is purging the party of those opposed to him.

Cheney, Gonzalez, Herrera Beutler, Meijer and Upton all voted to impeach Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection, while Murkowski voted to convict him. Baker, Kemp and Little, as governors, played no role in Trump’s impeachment, but Baker did express support for it, and Kemp earned Trump’s wrath for certifying President Biden’s win in Georgia.

3. He’s endorsing down-ballot candidates, especially in election-administration roles

Trump has endorsed candidates for secretary of state — a state’s top election official — in Arizona, Georgia and Michigan. This is an unusually niche endorsement for a president to make; Trump didn’t endorse in any secretary of state primaries in 2018, for instance. But the logic here is clear: These three secretaries of state in question refused to overturn the 2020 presidential result in their states, and Trump is now attempting to fill these positions with officials who baselessly think the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

So he's purging those positions also.

For instance, Georgia Rep. Jody Hice, the Trump-backed secretary of state candidate, believes the 2020 election was unfair and voted against certifying the election. It’s a similar story in Arizona, where Mark Finchem, a current state representative, has continued to call for the decertification of the 2020 election results in Maricopa County. And finally, in Michigan, Kristina Karamo claimed that as a poll challenger she saw fraud during the state’s absentee ballot counting in the 2020 election.

Anti-Trump Republicans don't seem to have much of a base in their party.

 

[lpetrich]

Opinion: How Dr. Oz went from being Oprah's protégé to Trump's cheerleader - CNN
"Oprah for President"?

Though some close to Oprah whispered she was "actively thinking" about a presidential bid, a month later she told late-night host Jimmy Kimmel she was "definitely not running" — a line she had to repeat for months before the speculation died down.

Yet if the "Oprah for President" bubble burst in 2018, her impact on US politics persisted. Marianne Williamson and Dr. Mehmet Oz, elevated as lifestyle and wellness gurus through their appearances on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," have transformed their Oprah anointments into political launching pads.

Then MO's career as an Oprah guest, then in his own TV show, then as a Trumpie.

The Pennsylvania Senate Candidate Running as the Anti-Dr. Oz - The New York Times

Dr. Val Arkoosh is the Pennsylvania Senate candidate who is often an afterthought compared to the two front-running Democrats, John Fetterman and Conor Lamb.

...
Dr. Arkoosh, a physician in obstetric anesthesiology and a top elected official in Montgomery County in the Philadelphia suburbs, is trying to pitch herself as a kind of anti-Dr. Oz.

“It really does take a doctor to stand up to a doctor,” Dr. Arkoosh told me. “I don’t even know how he still has a license, with some of the stuff that comes out his mouth,” she said of his promotion of unproved Covid-19 treatments early in the pandemic.

I like that. Very good point. With the quackery that he has endorsed, he deserves it.

Dr. Oz, who jumped into the race last week, is framing his candidacy as a conservative’s response to the pandemic, pushing back against mandates, shutdowns and limits to “freedom.”

Dr. Arkoosh, on the other hand, helped lead an aggressive response to the pandemic as the leader of the Montgomery County board of commissioners. In an interview, she contrasted her efforts to ensure the safety of students in her county to Dr. Oz’s position on schools at the time: During the same month that she canceled graduation ceremonies last year, Dr. Oz urged on Fox News that schools should be open because it “may only cost us 2 to 3 percent in terms of total mortality” of the population.

He later said he “misspoke.”

What a quack.

 

[lpetrich]

Dr. Oz Claims the Philadelphia Inquirer Is Trying to Silence Him by Using His Real Name

During a Monday interview with Steve Doocy on "Fox and Friends," Dr. Oz claimed that the Philadelphia Inquirer daily newspaper is trying to silence him by referring to him by his name, Mehmet Oz, in its coverage of the 2022 US Senate election in Pennsylvania.

Ron Filipkowski on Twitter: "The Philadelphia Inquirer recently announced that it will refer to Dr. Oz by his name - Mehmet Oz - in articles about the Senate campaign, just like all other candidates. Oz is outraged this about that this morning, saying that it is “shocking” and “they want to silence me.” (vid link)" / Twitter
"Dr. Oz fights back against cancel culture"

Oz is also not the only doctor vying for Toomey's Senate seat. In its coverage, the Inquirer has also dropped the titles of two other candidates, physician Valerie Arkoosh and emergency medicine doctor Kevin Baumlin.

"The Inquirer hates, hates, that I'm empowering you, hates that I'm taking on some of the established folks, hates that the entrepreneurial solutions that I'm offering might make sense," Oz told Doocy, who echoed concerns that the newspaper is "trying to cancel" him.

Dr. Mehmet Oz on Twitter: "I won't be canceled. (vid link)" / Twitter
What victimhood.

 

[Keith&Co.]

"The Inquirer hates, hates, that I'm empowering you, hates that I'm taking on some of the established folks, hates that the entrepreneurial solutions that I'm offering might make sense,"

"I'm fighting the elites for you! Never mind that PEOPLE FUCKING MAGAZINE has done a layout on my home, i'm just like you voter-people."

 

[lpetrich]

Ron Johnson's re-election bid is in peril because 'his act may be wearing thin on voters': columnist - Raw Story - Celebrating 17 Years of Independent Journalism

On Friday WISN 12 News' Matt Smith reported that the controversial Johnson "will seek re-election and is expected to make his official announcement in the coming days."

According to Kilgore, despite being an incumbent, Johnson is not a lock for re-election after becoming so closely associated with former president Donald Trump and due to his controversial comments about Covid-19 health protocols.

As Kilgore notes, Johnson's bid could put another GOP seat in the Senate in play, joining Pennsylvania and North Carolina where two Republicans are retiring.

Ex-NFL star Herschel Walker posts baffling video promoting US Senate run | Republicans | The Guardian

In December, the former University of Georgia and Dallas Cowboys running back admitted he does not have a college degree – having repeatedly said that he did.

Then, as January began, Walker posted to social media a short but to some bafflingly phrased video.

Babbling about Build Back Better and Defund the Police.

But critics said the video – and a similarly rambling Fox News appearance – was evidence of Walker’s unsuitability for office.

From last summer, As Herschel Walker eyes Senate run, a turbulent past emerges | AP News -
“hundreds of pages of public records tied to Walker’s business ventures and his divorce, including many not previously reported, shed new light on a turbulent personal history that could dog his Senate bid”. These documents “detail accusations that Walker repeatedly threatened his ex-wife’s life, exaggerated claims of financial success and alarmed business associates with unpredictable behavior”. He “has at times been open about his long struggle with mental illness, writing at length in a 2008 book about being diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, once known as multiple personality disorder”. Brian Kemp said that he “certainly could bring a lot of things to the table … as others have mentioned, there’s also a lot of questions out there”.

In the matter of Walker touting a college degree he does not hold, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the false claim was made on a campaign website, “in an online biography advertising Walker’s book, at a campaign rally … and even during his introduction this year at a congressional hearing”.

In a statement, Walker said: “I was majoring in criminal justice at UGA when I left to play in the USFL my junior year. After playing with the New Jersey Generals” – a team Trump owned – “I returned to Athens to complete my degree, but life and football got in the way.”

Looking forward to Raphael Warnock delivering him a ruinous defeat. He makes former football coach Tommy Tuberville seem smart.

 

[lpetrich]

Ron Johnson announces run for third Senate term in Wisconsin | TheHill
Why did he do it?

Johnson’s decision to run for a third term breaks a vow he made in his 2016 campaign that he’d only seek two six-year stints in the Senate. However, he had increasingly sent signals that he planned to run again this November, maintaining his fundraising and making frequent appearances on Fox News.

In a statement and an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, Johnson said he would prefer to retire but cast his decision to run for reelection as one made to fight against Democrats' unified control in Washington and "disastrous policies."

"During the 2016 campaign, I said it would be my last campaign and final term. That was my strong preference, and my wife’s—we both looked forward to a normal private life. Neither of us anticipated the Democrats’ complete takeover of government and the disastrous policies they have already inflicted on America and the world, to say nothing of those they threaten to enact in the future," he wrote in The Journal.

How convenient.

 

[lpetrich]

On The Trail: Retirements offer window into House Democratic mood | TheHill

House Democrats facing an uphill fight to retain control of the lower chamber are finding their mission all the more imperiled by a wave of incumbents who have opted against seeking another term in Congress later this year, a troubling sign of pessimism from those who see an unappealing life in the minority ahead.

Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) this week became the 26th House Democrat to say he will not seek a new term in office this year. He is the 18th member to say he will quit politics outright, while another eight are running for another office.

Already, more Democrats have called it quits this year than in any cycle since 1996, when 29 members newly in the minority decided not to run again. The same number of Democrats, 29, retired in 1994, the year Republicans reclaimed control of Congress for the first time in four decades.

The exodus may not be over yet. Several Democratic incumbents have not said whether they will seek another term, and others are likely waiting to see the new district lines they would have to run under after the decennial redistricting process concludes.

Noting "Historically, members of Congress head to the exits when they foresee a difficult election year ahead."

United States Congress elections, 2022 - Ballotpedia
has a section on "Incumbents not seeking re-election"

The Senate has 5 R's and 1 D.

The House has:

Party	Total	Retiring	Senate	Governor	Other
D	26	18	4	2	2
R	11	4	4	1	2

Among the retirees are anti-Trump Republicans like Adam Kinzinger and Anthony Gonzalez.

On the Democratic side, many of the retirees are in their 70's or 80's, though some are much younger, like Cheri Bustos.

 

[lpetrich]

Ballotpedia has a "retirement curve", comparing the number of retirements per month before the election for this year, 2020, and 2018. Until now and comparable dates, the numbers of retirements were close. Now, 10 months before the election, the numbers for 2022, 2020, and 2018 are 35, 33, 42. But 2020 slowly increased to 36, and 2018 kept on going, slowing down at 8 months before the election, and leveling off at 52 at 6 months before the election. So between now and April, there are likely a few more retirements.

 

[lpetrich]

Why The Republican Party Isn’t Concerned With Popularity | FiveThirtyEight

After Mitt Romney lost the 2012 presidential election, the Republican National Committee published what became known as the “GOP autopsy report,” an effort to identify and address the party’s ongoing political weaknesses. But eight years later, after losing another close race, the GOP appears wholly uninterested in reviewing or reforming its agenda. In fact, despite capturing the presidency, the Democratic Party has been far more interested in developing an attractive issue agenda. “There is only one political party that is terrified of losing an election because it looks too extreme,” said Seth Masket, a FiveThirtyEight contributor and political scientist at the University of Denver. “There’s a huge party asymmetry.”

But despite the fact that the GOP is quite unpopular and that much of its current agenda — such as overturning the Affordable Care Act or advancing restrictive immigration policies — does not appeal to a majority of voters, the party is in an enviable position heading into the 2022 midterm elections and beyond. What is to make of this glaring disconnect?

Then the article discussed how the Republicans are overrepresented in Congress and in the Electoral College, and how the Republicans have a dedicated base that will come out for Republicans no matter what. Thus making them yellow-dog Republicans.

 

[lpetrich]

Republicans are revealing how they plan to derail Biden after the 2022 midterms - Raw Story - Celebrating 17 Years of Independent Journalism
Though the next Presidential election is 2 years away, they will be running against Biden this year.

Republicans aren't offering much of an agenda to voters in this year's midterms, but will instead try to frame the Nov. 8 election as an up-or-down vote on Biden and the Democratic congressional majority, reported Politico.

“It’s really going to be a referendum on him and his administration and on the Democrat leadership in the Congress, so we need to stay out of our own way,” said Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the second-ranking GOP senator. "It’s really important for us to highlight our differences, how we would do it differently, and then … have some things that we would do or could do if there was a willingness to work together.”

So they will have nothing to offer but "Democrats bad".

Noting
How a GOP majority in Congress might handle Biden in 2023 - POLITICO - "Republicans emboldened about their prospects to retake the House and maybe even the Senate, too, are already gauging their governing relationship with the president."

 

[lpetrich]

Trump comes up empty when asked a very simple question about Republicans governing - Raw Story - Celebrating 17 Years of Independent Journalism

When former President Donald Trump appeared on right-wing Newsmax TV this week, he was asked about the 2022 midterms and the things he would like Republicans to prioritize if they regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives. But Trump didn’t offer any specific policy recommendations should the GOP have a House majority in 2023 and seemed to ignore the substance of the question entirely.

What he said:

Trump responded, “Number 1: take back. That’s what has to be Number 1; we have to take it back.”

Why?

Obviously referring to the Democratic majorities in Congress, Trump continued, “These are radicalized, horrible people that hate our country — what they’re doing with the open borders and the judges and all of the things they’ve been doing is so sad. And then you look at Afghanistan is a topper…. We were coming out strong, with dignity. There’s never been a lower point than what happened with Afghanistan, in my opinion. So, we’ve gotta, Number 1, we’ve gotta win the House — and I think we can win the Senate also.”

Not much of a policy recommendation.

 

[lpetrich]

Fellow Republican accuses Trump-backed Senate candidate of having 'a porn addiction' - Raw Story - Celebrating 17 Years of Independent Journalism

Former NFL player and Trump-backed Republican Senate candidate in Georgia, Herschel Walker, is risking GOP efforts to retake the Senate with the racy Instagram accounts he follows, according to a GOP primary opponent.

"A review of Senate candidate Herschel Walker’s Instagram account shows he follows several accounts with links to racy material. One of the accounts has a name not suitable for a family newsletter. Several others also have accounts on OnlyFans, a social media platform popular with porn stars," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Tuesday.

This should be fun.

But the campaign of Walker's GOP rival, Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, wondered if he may be addicted to pornography.

“Stalking, and domestic abuse are disqualifying by themselves but a porn addiction would be a significant third strike. That’s just handing the Senate to the Democrats,” said Black spokesman Dan McLagan. “While personally sad, it’s definitely conduct unbecoming of a candidate for elected office.”

Despite the pushback from the agriculture commissioner, Walker has the backing of Donald Trump.

"Herschel Walker will never let you down," Trump promised in a September statement. "He was a great football player and will be an even better U.S. Senator—if that is even possible. He has my Complete and Total Endorsement!"