Just after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, Commercial Appeal published candidate profiles on the three Democratic primary challengers to Representative David Kustoff (R-TN-8), two of whom took the deeply divisive tone that Republicans were to “end democracy.”
Sarah Freeman is running to be her party’s nominee in the race.
“I am an extremely dedicated and patriotic American and cannot stand by as the dark, greedy, undemocratic, and inhumane forces of what once was the Republican Party seize our Constitution and rip it to shreds,” Freeman (pictured above, right) said. “These are real and serious threats, and I am not willing to allow authoritarians to govern the country of my children, grandchildren, and future generations. This must be stopped now. As a professional historian, I have studied fascism and the history of Europe in the 1920s and ‘30s. As a southern historian, I know well the methods of bigots and their use of racism and hate to gain power.”
Freeman did not respond to a comment request from The Tennessee Star.
Leonard Perkins is also running for the seat.
“I’m running because of the strenuous, aggressive and relentless movement to end our democracy. My general opponent will be a man who is a contributor to that movement,” Perkins (pictured above, left) said.
Asked whether he was worried that his rhetoric could cause violence like the assassination attempt against Trump, Leonard doubled down on the divisive rhetoric.
“My answer is no. I am not worried but, I am always concerned about the gravity of my speech,” he told The Star. “I certainly don’t want to be a contributor to such behavior. I am convinced that there is a movement to dismantle our democracy. I further think that anyone who is a sympathizer/supporter of any person or entity that is struggling to dismantle our democratic experience, is complicit, wittingly or unwittingly.”
Perkins also referred to Martin Niemöller’s “And Then They Came” quote, suggesting that Republicans could start another Holocaust.
Niemöller, a pastor and early supporter of Adolph Hitler who later became an outspoken critic of the Nazi Party due to it interfering with his right to preach the Bible.
He ended up in a concentration camp and, after the war, spoke about his complicity in Hitler’s rise to power and his eventual change of heart.
He famously said:
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
The Star then asked several follow-up questions, including:
- What, specifically, is this “movement to dismantle our democracy?”
- Who exactly are the leaders of this movement?
- Who are the “sympathizers/supporters” of this movement specifically?
- What should be done to those “sympathizers/supporters”?<
- Should they be banished from polite society? Jailed? Even killed?
- If this movement is actually going to destroy democracy, how do you stop them?
After these questions, Perkins backed off.
“I’ve offered all that I will at this time,” he said.
When The Star asked Perkins whether he thought it was his duty to democracy to ensure Americans knew who was trying to destroy it, he did not respond.
Tennessee’s 8th Congressional District is considered a safely Republican district, with a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of R+19.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on X/Twitter.
Photo “Leonard Perkins” by Leonard Perkins. Photo “Sarah Freeman” by Sarah Freeman.
