Ben Cunningham Says Light Rail from Downtown Nashville to the Airport May be Included in Mayor O’Connell’s Transit Plan

Music City Star

All-star panelist Ben Cunningham joined Friday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy where he discussed what may be included in Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s anticipated transit plan.

O’Connell, who was elected mayor in last year’s runoff election, vowed during his campaign to address Nashville’s “infrastructure and transit concerns.”

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Gina Swoboda Explains Why She Was Reluctant at First to Run for AZGOP Chair

Newly-elected chair of the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) Gina Swoboda joined Thursday’s edition of The Afternoon Addiction with Garret Lewis on KFYI to discuss why she was reluctant at first to run as the AZGOP chair, explaining how a call from former President Donald Trump ultimately changed her mind.

“It was impossible to say no,” Swoboda said. “It was surreal. I think any one of us when called upon to serve is going to serve.”

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AZGOP Chair Gina Swoboda Explains Why Early Litigation ‘Has to Happen’ to Avoid Election Fraud This Election Cycle

AZGOP Chair Gina Swoboda

Newly-elected chair of the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP), Gina Swoboda, joined Thursday’s edition of The Afternoon Addiction with Garret Lewis on KFYI to discuss how her extensive knowledge of election laws will benefit her in her new position as the party’s chair, in particular her strategy of litigating to protect the party against lawfare this election cycle before it’s “too late.”

Swoboda was elected at the annual AZGOP Mandatory Meeting of the State Committee last week following the resignation of former chair Jeff DeWit.

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Gina Swoboda Explains How Her Election Integrity Work Will Play a Role in Her New Position as AZGOP Chair

AZGOP Chair Gina Swoboda

Newly-elected chair of the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) Gina Swoboda joined Thursday’s edition of The Afternoon Addiction with Garret Lewis on KFYI to discuss her experience as an election official and how her extensive knowledge of election laws will benefit her in her new position as chair.

“One of the issues I think we have had historically is that there has not been a process expert, a subject matter expert, that works with the attorneys to explain to them, ‘this is what should be happening, this is not what’s happening, flag on the court.’ The election attorneys are great, but they are election attorneys, not election administrators,” Swoboda explained. “I’m a certified election official and I’ve helped administer elections…so I know what’s supposed to be happening, I know when things are not supposed to be happening, or when we should be doing things that we are not doing.”

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Neil W. McCabe Discusses James O’Keefe Going ‘Back to His Roots’ in Undercover Video of Top White House Cyber Official

James O'Keefe

National political reporter Neil W. McCabe joined Thursday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss James O’Keefe’s recent undercover investigation involving a top White House Cyber Official’s depiction of the Biden administration.

O’Keefe, founder of O’Keefe Media Group, wore a disguise while on a “date” with Charlie Kraiger, cybersecurity policy analyst and foreign affairs executive office of the President, where Kraiger revealed the extent of the alleged coverup of President Joe Biden’s health and the tension between Vice President Kamala Harris and her staff.

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Neil W. McCabe, Dr. Carol Swain Analyze How Former Harvard President Claudine Gay Was Able to ‘Get Away’ with Plagiarism

Claudine Gay

National political reporter Neil W. McCabe and Dr. Carol M. Swain joined Thursday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss the latest developments surrounding Swain’s battle with Harvard University regarding its former president’s alleged plagiarism of her and other scholars’ work.

In December 2023, writer and activist Christopher Rufo accused then-Harvard University President Claudine Gay of plagiarizing “multiple sections” of Swain’s Ph.D. thesis from 1997.

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Dr. Carol M. Swain: ‘You Can be Dumb as Rocks and Go to Harvard’

Carol Swain Harvard

Dr. Carol M. Swain joined Thursday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss the latest developments surrounding her battle with Harvard University regarding its former president’s alleged plagiarism of her and other scholars’ work as well as the overall decline of the university as it attempts to implement a new “standard.”

In December 2023, writer and activist Christopher Rufo accused then-Harvard University President Claudine Gay of plagiarizing “multiple sections” of Swain’s Ph.D. thesis from 1997.

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Tennessee to Receive More than $9 Million from Settlement with Publicis Health

TN AG Skrmetti Settlement

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced Thursday his office was apart of a $350 million multistate settlement with Publicis Health to resolve investigations into the marketing firm’s role in the prescription opioid crisis.

The Volunteer State will receive more than $9 million from the settlement, with a majority of the funds placed into the state’s Opioid Abatement Trust Fund to support local efforts addressing the opioid epidemic.

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Nearly 600 Illegal Aliens May Be Transported to Middle Tennessee, DHS Notice Says

Illegal Border crossers

A notice from last September by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported that a total of 573 “noncitizens” from Guatemala, Venezuela, Honduras, and Mexico intended on traveling to Franklin, Nashville, Davidson County, and Murfreesboro following their release from DHS custody.

The notice, dated as the week ending September 16, 2023, is titled “Intended Destination of Noncitizens Processed at the Southwest Border.”

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House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green Says He’s ‘Working Hard’ to Secure the Votes to Impeach DHS Secretary Mayorkas

Rep. Mark Green

Tennessee U.S. Representative and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Mark Green (R-TN-07) joined Thursday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss his efforts in the impeachment process of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Green, who led his Republican colleagues in voting to advance two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas out of committee on Wednesday, told Leahy that Mayorkas not only refused to enforce the law himself, but directed his staff to do the same.

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Former Belmont University Student Body President Says University is Not Salvageable

Belmont University

Chairman of the Tennessee Young Republicans and former Belmont University study body President Stevie Giorno recently joined The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss his experience at Belmont University during and after the time he served as the school’s student body president.

Giorno, who was bullied and called a “racist” for posting a pro-American social media message on Instagram on July 4, 2020, said the university used the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to bar him, the student body president at the time, from holding regular meetings.

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Stevie Giorno Discusses Plot to Oust Him from Belmont University’s Student Government Association Presidency Nearly Four Years Ago

Stevie Giorno

Chairman of the Tennessee Young Republicans and former Belmont University study body President Stevie Giorno recently joined The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss how students at Belmont University bullied him during the time he served as the school’s student body president.

While serving as Belmont University’s student body president in 2020, Giorno acknowledged the Fourth of July holiday with a post on Instagram that read, “Proud to be an American, celebrating the sacrifice of those that gave their all so that we may have freedoms and liberties intended for us on this day in 1776.”

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Matthew Giffin Details Socialist Group’s Fight with East Tennessee State University over Upcoming Event Featuring Kyle Rittenhouse

Kyle Rittenhouse

Matthew Giffin, reporter at The Tennessee Star and student at Middle Tennessee State University, joined Wednesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss a socialist group’s response to an event scheduled at East Tennessee State University (ETSU) next week featuring Kyle Rittenhouse.

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Tennessee Attorney General Joins Letter Supporting Texas’ Border Defense Barriers

Skrmetti Border

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined a coalition of 26 other attorneys general in sending a letter to the Biden administration proclaiming support for the steps Texas has taken at its border with Mexico to prevent illegal immigrant crossings.

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of the Biden administration to allow Border Patrol agents to cut through or move razor wire Texas installed on its border with Mexico to prevent illegal entries into the U.S.

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Health Insurance Costs in Virginia Rising Despite Low Levels of Healthcare Spending, Study Finds

The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association (VHHA) is bringing awareness to a new study showing health insurance premiums and deductible costs among Virginians are rising despite the state’s overall healthcare spending remaining below national levels.

“When it comes to health care spending, Virginia is in the enviable position of having expenditure rates that remain well below national levels. The same cannot be said for health insurance costs, unfortunately,” the VHHA said in a press release. “On the contrary, the amount that individuals and families across the Commonwealth spend on annual health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket deductibles continues to rise sharply year-over-year.”

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Tom Pappert Details How ESG Standards Being Pushed by Banks Would ‘Bankrupt’ American Farmers

Tom Pappert, lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, joined Tuesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss his recent article on the Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner’s omission on a letter concerning Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) policies being pushed on American farmers.

On Tuesday, Pappert reported that Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Dr. Charlie Hatcher did not sign a letter sent by 12 states to the heads of six elite banks warning that their “Net-Zero Banking Alliance” (NZBA) will force ESG policies that would have a “catastrophic impact” on farmers.

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Tennessee State Senator Mark Pody Announces School Safety Grants Will Now Fund Requests for Technology to Alert Law Enforcement of Threats Inside Schools

Tennessee State Senator Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) joined Monday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss the latest developments surrounding his efforts to make new school-specific security technology eligible for the school safety grants approved by the General Assembly last year.

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Neil W. McCabe Says There Is ‘Deception’ in NRSC Chairman Steve Daines’ Denial of Leaked Kari Lake Audio Recording

Daines Lake

National political reporter Neil W. McCabe joined Thursday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss the latest developments in the leaked audio recording story where now-former Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) Chairman Jeff DeWit offered Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake money in return of staying out of politics for two years.

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Senator Marsha Blackburn Visits All 95 Counties of Tennessee Each Year: The ‘Full Blackburn’ Takes a Page from Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa

Marsha Blackburn

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) joined Friday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss a new bill she and Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) introduced as well as State Representative Gloria Johnson’s (D-Knoxville) recent vote against a bill that would allow prosecutors to pursue a death penalty sentence for convicted child rapists.

Blackburn, who was traveling through Sumner County while on the newsmaker line, first discussed the importance of her annual trips to all 95 Tennessee counties.

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Ohio Senator JD Vance Introduces Bill to Codify Border States’ Rights to Defend Own Territory from Illegal Migrants

Ohio U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) introduced a bill on Wednesday that would “codify the right of every state along the U.S.-Mexico border to defend its own territory.”

Vance’s State Border Security Act would prevent federal agents from dismantling barbed wire or other fencing erected by state governments within 25 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.

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Carol Swain Provides Update on Plagiarism Battle with Harvard University, Previews Upcoming ‘Be The People’ Conference

Carol Swain

Dr. Carol M. Swain joined Wednesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy where she discussed her nonprofit organization’s upcoming conference and Harvard University’s silence in response to her attorney’s letter to the university demanding answers about what Swain claims is plagiarism of her work by outgoing President Claudine Gay.

In December 2023, writer and activist Christopher Rufo accused then-Harvard University President Claudine Gay of plagiarizing “multiple sections” of Swain’s Ph.D. thesis from 1997.

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