Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) said Sunday on NBC's “Meet the Press” that he believes the entire country is in a “slight fever” of anger and trauma.
Host Kristen Welker said, “Do you feel like there's a public anger and almost distrust of people reaching across the aisle to find common ground?”
“I think the whole country is experiencing what's called a low-grade fever,” Warnock said. “Sometimes you wake up in the morning and you don't feel very well. You can't even put your finger on it. We've been through four years of COVID-19. But people spent those early years, those early months, We've had to flee with all sorts of trauma, and we've lived through 20 years of what felt like an endless war, exacerbating the fault lines of division and cultural fault lines in our country at this moment. I think people are just feeling the weight and trauma of it all.
And what I would encourage us to do, especially in this season, is to look at each other instead of understanding — you know, how can we hurt each other, how can we not become prey? Instead of thinking about how we can pray for each other without each other. And you know, I still have great hope for this country, for our ideals of unity, inclusion, and equality. And America's story is one that brings us closer to those ideals. There were moments when democracy expanded and moments when it contracted. But any woman will tell you that labor is all you need to give birth. So I remain hopeful in this moment. But it's going to be a lot of work. ”
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