The Tennessee Republican Party has launched a new digital ad to point out how Phil Bredesen is refusing to take a position on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s SCOTUS nomination per instructions from Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton.
The Tennessee GOP’s video ad is available here. It shows fantasized text messages in which Clinton and Schumer tell Bredesen to stay neutral in the nomination and give him encouragement.
Bredesen, a Democratic former governor of Tennessee, is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), who is retiring. His opponent is U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07). Blackburn has vocalized her support for the embattled Kavanaugh and has hit repeatedly at Bredesen for staying silent on whether he would vote for the judge’s confirmation.
Blackburn said this week, “Tennesseans are very clear: they want their next senator to confirm good constitutionalist judges and justices, and they support Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Phil Bredesen, under Chuck Schumer’s direction, has stayed neutral as long as he can.”
The Democratic former governor was booed by a mostly Democratic audience Monday in Chattanooga when he sidestepped the question about Kavanaugh.
The Tennessee GOP says Bredesen’s lack of communication is in line with Senate Minority Leader Schumer’s instructions to red-state Democrats to “stay as neutral as you can, as long as you can.”
Blackburn has been pointing out the links between Schumer and Bredesen.
“Chuck Schumer has said Phil Bredesen is his number one recruit,” she said recently. “Phil Bredesen and Tennessee is Chuck Schumer’s path to majority leader. We all know if Phil Bredesen were to go to D.C. what would be the first vote he would take? Chuck Schumer — that’s exactly right. A vote for Chuck Schumer for majority leader.”
Hillary Clinton has been outspoken on her opposition to Kavanaugh’s nomination.
I want to be sure we're all clear about something that Brett Kavanaugh said in his confirmation hearings last week. He referred to birth-control pills as "abortion-inducing drugs." That set off a lot of alarm bells for me, and it should for you, too.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 12, 2018
Clinton has used debunked claims about Kavanaugh. Bredesen gave Clinton over $33,400 to defeat President Donald Trump in 2016, the Tennessee GOP said.
Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden said, “It’s been 86 days since Brett Kavanaugh was nominated to the Supreme Court, but Phil Bredesen still refuses to tell Tennessee voters how he would vote on the nomination. Marsha Blackburn has been clear that she will vote to put Constitutionalist judges and justices on the Supreme Court every time. Phil Bredesen has given nothing but excuse after excuse, just like Chuck Schumer told him to.”
– – –
Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist at newspaper outlets of all sizes.
[…] months to give an insipid endorsement to Kavanaugh only after the nomination seemed secure, drawing charges he was acting on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s orders. He was even booed by a mostly […]
[…] a former Tennessee governor, has received a great deal of criticism for refusing to say where he stood on Kavanaugh’s nomination, even though making such decisions […]
[…] nearly 90 days Bredesen has refused to say anything about whether he would vote for Kavanaugh if he were already a senator. Bredesen is […]