This new Walker claim is also false. There is no sign that Warnock’s campaign, let alone Warnock himself, ever lied about ownership of the dog. A Politico article published two days before Election Day in the 2021 runoff noted that the dog belonged to a Warnock supporter. Politico obtained this information from a Warnock campaign official. Less than three weeks after Warnock’s victory, the New York Times published an article about the successful dog ads, with comments from the campaign’s lead ad maker, who also noted that Alvin was owned by a Warnock supporter. It is common for campaign ads to include actors, staged scenes, and fictional scenarios. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted this week that Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp ran an ad in 2018 featuring himself holding a shotgun next to an actor playing the role of, in Kemp’s words, a “young man interested in one of my daughters.”
The Warnock ads
The Warnock ads, released in late 2020, did not include any claim that Alvin was Warnock’s dog — not even in the humorous tone of the Kemp ad. Warnock’s first ad targeted the attacks he expected from his Republican opponent in that race, Kelly Loeffler. An exaggerated narrator said: “Raphael Warnock eats pizza with a fork and knife. Raphael Warnock stepped on a crack in the pavement. Raphael Warnock even hates puppies.” Warnock warned voters of Loeffler’s coming “lies” and said he would remain focused on using government to help people. The ad then ended with a clip of Warnock holding and petting Alvin as he said, in a voiceover, “And by the way: I love puppies.” A second ad featured Warnock walking Alvin around a suburban block as he denounced Loeffler’s “sparkle ads” for his earlier remarks. Warnock said, “But I think Georgians will see her ads for what they are.” He dropped a bag of doggies into a garbage can, wordlessly completing the joke, and asked Alvin, “You? The ad ended with a picture of Alvin licking Warnock as he said, “I’m Raphael Warnock and we approve of this message.” At least a few articles identified the dog as “his”. But other articles called Alvin a “dog” or “beagle.” Warnock has had dogs in the past, the New York Times reported in 2021. As for the Walker campaign’s ludicrous suggestion this week that Alvin is “missing”: Alvin is a supporters’ dog and is still alive, the Warnock campaign told CNN on Thursday.
