Carol Swain Reflects on Her Meeting with Vice President Pence and Expresses Her Concerns on Race Relations

 

Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. –  host Leahy welcomed Dr. Carol Swain to the studio.

During the second hour, Swain described her recent visit to the White House where she advised Vice President Mike Pence on race relations in America and in particular her concern of the Black Lives Matter protests. She disclosed to the listeners that Nashville, Atlanta and Dallas were on the radar for groups like Antifa.

Leahy: We are joined now by our official all-star panelist who our listeners have missed tremendously because you’ve been out of town for the past couple of shows. But back on Thursday here. Carol Swain, good morning.

Swain: Good morning. And I’ve missed you and the listeners.

Leahy: Yes. Yes. The listeners ask, when is Carol coming back? We want to hear her. (Swain chuckles) I last saw you a couple of weeks ago. You were in Washington, D.C. I was in Washington D.C. There was a dinner party for a group that we are friends and good guys called the Conservative Clergy of Color.

Swain: In other words, he means Black folk. (Swain laughs)

Leahy: It wasn’t all Black.

Swain: Yeah, there were two white guys.

Leahy: Two white guys! (Leahy laughs)

Swain: I was there to meet with the vice president.

Leahy: Yes, you were.

Swain: And I did.

Leahy: I think you went back the subsequent week. So tell us about your meeting with the vice president.

Swain: Well, I had been invited to a small group with the vice president. It got changed a couple of times. But I was thinking small group, 20, 25, 30 people. And when I walked in I was shocked that I was one of eight.

Leahy: Just set the stage. Where did it happen?

Swain: In the vice president’s office. I’m not at liberty to go into more detail.

Leahy: But it was in the White House complex, right?

Swain: Yes.

Leahy: So you walk in, who else is there?

Swain: I’m not going to give you a list of everyone that was there.

Leahy: Other people?

Swain: Other people were there.

Leahy: But not a lot of other people?

Swain: No no. I was one of eight people.

Leahy: Wow.

Swain: And not the usual characters. (Giggles)

Leahy: Is there like a conference table. Is it a big room?

Swain: There was a conference table in the vice president’s office.

Leahy: See I’ve never been there.

Swain: Well, it’s my first time.

Leahy: I doubt that any of the listeners have been there.

Swain: Well, wait a minute. I’m 66 years old and I’ve spent my life with my nose pressed against the glass looking in trying to be heard. And so it means a lot to me that this year, in particular, it seems like I’ve had opportunities to go into the settings where there’s an opportunity to influence public policy at the highest levels.

Leahy: How long did this meeting last?

Swain: Probably an hour, or an hour and a half.

Leahy: So tell us about the vice president.

Swain: Well I mean he’s a very good listener. And he took some notes. And he had to leave the meeting but the meeting continued with his staff.

Leahy: He seems like a very nice guy.

Swain: I’ve met him before. In fact, the first time I met him I was trying to take a selfie with him and I was so nervous I couldn’t operate my phone and he took the selfie for both of us. (Chuckles)

Leahy: Are you kidding me?  He seems like a regular guy.

Swain: Well, he is.

Leahy: What important information did you have to share with the vice president?

Swain: Well, I’ve very concerned about the protests and Black Lives Matter and just how the administration is responding to race. And so there was an opportunity for some of us who have a different perspective to talk about America and what we believe needs to be done.

Leahy: And what did you share with the vice president that you can share with us?

Swain: Well everything that I’ve put on Twitter and Facebook, maybe not all of it. (Leahy chuckles) One of the things that I think is very important is that when we look at race in America we have to look at every one. We can’t just focus on Black people because I think racism cuts in many different ways.

And I believe that everyone is suffering in America at this point in time and it’s very important for the president and for the vice president and for our country to approach it so that we respect everyone’s constitutional rights. Everyone’s civil rights.

Leahy: Was the vice president taking notes when you were telling him this?

Swain: Here’s what I believe that we need to avoid because every time I’ve been in a race conversation over the last 25 years it goes the same way.

Leahy: It does.

Swain: About more spending in the inner cities and different kinds of political appointments. Those things have not worked in the past.

Leahy: Yes. It’s interesting because if you listen to former Vice President Joe Biden’s speech on the Fourth of July, Newt Gingrich called it the most un-American political speech he’s heard in his lifetime.

Swain: Here’s the thing, I think the current strategy that is being pushed by the political left will destroy inner cities. Whether we are talking about the schools and re-opening the schools or keeping them closed. Defunding the police. We know already with the abortion that’s being pushed by the political left it decimates the minority populations.

And I believe that my position on race and what needs to be done to prosper Americans that it is something that’s accepted by whites and Blacks because it comes from common sense. Which is in short supply in the world.

Leahy: You stole my line there. Common sense. I don’t know if I see it anywhere in the mainstream media.

Swain: And the thing that really frustrates me is that I see again and again opportunities for our elected leaders to lead. Our elected leaders. Mostly they just talk nonsense. They are not leading and I don’t care who they are. Very few of the people that we’ve sent to Washington are leading. And I’m deeply disappointed in this state with Bill Lee.

I think that he has been a Democrat in disguise. He ran as a Republican but I don’t see very much coming from him that strikes me as a Republican that’s conservative and understands America. I think all those rich guys, that they think alike. And maybe they have guilt but they make bad decisions because of that.

Leahy: Why do you think all those rich guys think alike?

Swain: Again, I think its because they have such a cushy life that they lose a sense of how other people live and what’s important. And so they are more likely to be swept away in progressivism and that is disastrous. It sounds great and wonderful but at the end of the day, it’s not what will save a nation or move it forward.

Leahy: I think there is a lot of evidence over the past couple of weeks to prove your point. Let me give you an example.

Swain: Didn’t someone say that I was always right? (Giggles)

Leahy: Was that me? Did I say that about you? Or did you say that about you?

Swain: I don’t know who said it.

Leahy: Of course, you are always right Carol. Our listeners say you are always right.

Listen to the full second hour here:

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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.