Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker refused to answer a question about the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday following his primary victory in Georgia.
CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju shared a video to Twitter late on Tuesday showing him asking Walker about the shooting that left at least 19 children and two adults dead.
"Do you support any new gun laws in the wake of this Texas shooting?" Raju asked Walker and repeated the question when Walker indicated he hadn't properly heard him.
"What I like to—what I like to do is see it and everything and stuff," Walker replied.
"I like to see it," Walker said before moving away. He may have been indicating that he wanted to know more about the incident.
"He didn't engage further," Raju wrote.
Earlier, a member of Herschel's campaign had told the assembled crowd that he would wait to speak about his victory until after President Joe Biden delivered remarks about the shooting.
Though he did not reply directly to Raju's question, Walker did address the school shooting in a statement earlier on Tuesday and briefly during his victory speech.
"Julie and I are heartbroken over the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas. We are lifting up the victims and their families in prayer," Walker's statement said, referring to his wife.
During his speech, Walker asked his supporters to close their eyes and pray for everyone in Texas, describing the shooting as a "big tragedy."
Walker, a former football star, won the Republican Senate primary in Georgia on Tuesday with 68.2 percent of the vote. His nearest rival, Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, won just 13.4 percent with 96.4 percent of votes counted.
He has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump and will face off against Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock in November. Warnock won his primary on Tuesday with 96 percent of the vote. His longshot challenger Tamara Johnson-Shealey won just 4 percent.
Walker's candidacy has proved controversial. He was found to have lied about graduating from the University of Georgia and refused to debate his Republican primary opponents.
He also made headlines in March when he questioned evolution during an appearance at a church in Sugar Hill, Georgia.
"At one time, science said man came from apes, did it not?" Walker said. "If that is true, why are there still apes? Think about it."
Though Georgia has long been considered a deep red state, Biden won a narrow victory there in the 2020 presidential election and Warnock was elected to the Senate in January 2021, defeating incumbent Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler.
Newsweek has asked the Walker campaign for comment.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more
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