FRANKLIN, Tennessee – Hollywood actress Ashley Judd was in Franklin Monday to stump for Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, one day before Tennessee participates in Super Tuesday.
Judd met with other Warren supporters at a home in Franklin. Afterwards, they broke up into different groups and went door-to-door to other people’s homes to encourage them to support Warren on Tuesday.
Before they left, Judd gave a pep talk. Judd said Warren, if elected “will make the lives of Tennesseans better on a daily basis.”
Judd said Warren will fight for, among other things, health care, Roe vs. Wade, sex education, and access to family planning.
“There are so many things that affect our quality of life on a daily basis, and Elizabeth Warren’s plans are the most detailed and the most succinct,” Judd said.
“Those plans are subtle. They are nuanced.”
Organizers of the event told The Tennessee Star that Judd would not make herself available for media interviews.
Judd later referenced her famous “Nasty Woman” speech at the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. three years ago.
Quoting a Middle Tennessee woman in a dramatic tone, Judd ranted, “I am a nasty woman. I’m not as nasty as a man who looks like he bathes in Cheeto dust. And I didn’t know devils could be resurrected, but I feel Hitler … A mustache traded for a toupee.” The letter Judd quoted likened homosexual conversion therapy to Holocaust gas chambers: “Turning rainbows into suicide notes.”
“I am not as nasty as racism, fraud, conflict of interest, homophobia, sexual assault, transphobia…” and the list went on.
But on Monday Judd seemed to believe her side of the political spectrum might have cause for optimism for the next Women’s March.
“After the last election there was a lot of grief and anguish for us. When I went to Washington for the Women’s March and I gave the ‘Nasty Woman’ speech it was a very cathartic and galvanizing moment,” Judd said.
“But the reality is we don’t want there to be a need for another ‘Nasty Woman’ moment. Let’s make sure we make the next Women’s March a victory march.”
As The Star reported in 2018, Judd endorsed Tennessee Democratic gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean that year.
Dean lost that election to Republican and current Gov. Bill Lee.
Judd backed Dean because of her support for abortion and other reproductive rights.
The activist and actress is a sister to country music singer Wynona Judd.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
