Tennessee State Senator Mark Green was selected by President Trump to serve as the next Secretary of the Army with the full support of Secretary of Defense James Mattis, and from Tennessee’s two Republican U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker. At the time President Trump announced his intention to nominate Green in April, it appeared the conservative Tennessean had all the political boxes checked to ensure his confirmation by the Senate.
As a West Point graduate and former combat infantry officer, and special operations combat veteran, the military establishment was excited about the prospects of “one of their own” being named to the top direct civilian oversight position for the Army. As a businessman who had built and sold a healthcare company, he even had the bonus appeal to the Trump team’s preference for those who had achieved private sector business success. A relatively easy confirmation was expected by those close to the process.
Then, the left wing media establishment initiated a smear campaign against Green that was designed to “take out” another Trump nominee with nothing more than misquotes and comments taken out of context, innuendo, and completely false information. With the spurious claims against him amplified by a politically correct mob and media driven rush to judgement, Green was being tried, convicted and punished without the opportunity to present any defense.
In the end, a lone Democratic Party Senator promised to use the power of a procedural “blackball” to prevent Green’s nomination from getting a vote — indefinitely. The “hold” placed on the nomination by a single Senator which could remain in place for months or even longer, would leave the Army with its most senior civilian position vacant, delaying critically important policy making decisions in the face of ever increasing dangers in order to promote a partisan political agenda.
Green acknowledged that he was surprised to learn that a single Senator, of any party, can indefinitely block a nomination from coming to a vote under the Senate’s traditional courtesies.
“There is apparently no actual ‘rule’ that allows this. The Senate has simply developed this as their collegial way of doing business together,” Green tells The Tennessee Star.
Faced with the prospects of leaving the Army without senior leadership at such a critical time, and with no recourse to break the logjam created by a single partisan Senator, Green chose to withdraw his name from the nomination process. Green did not identify the Democratic Party Senator who promised to “blackball” his nomination.
“The thought that the President would not have his chosen appointee on the ground leading the Army and that our soldiers would be left without a Secretary who could advocate for them and secure the resources they need to do their jobs safely and successfully, shifted the process from being about the needs of the Army to being about ME,” Green notes. “I could never allow the men and women of the Army to be second to anyone, much less myself! That is why I stepped down from the nomination,” Green tells The Star.
“I appreciate the opportunity that President Trump presented to me, and was thrilled to have the opportunity to serve in such an important capacity in his Administration,” Green points out. “And while Senator Bob Corker and I have not always agreed on policy decisions, he was a huge advocate for me in this process…including working to get the truth in response to the attacks against me to the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee,” Green says.
“I would add that Rep. Diane Black and Rep. Marsha Blackburn were also great advocates on my behalf during the process. Countless numbers of my friends across Ten-nessee and those with whom I served in the Army reached out to express support during the entire process; I cannot express how grateful I am for those who stood with us,” he adds.
Green also set the record straight on one issue.
“And to clear up one persistent and false rumor of ‘conspiracy’ that is floating around Tennessee,” Green adds, “It was NOT any gubernatorial or prospective gubernatorial candidate who submitted my name to President Trump for consideration. In fact, the likely candidates were not made aware of my potential nomination until about two weeks prior to the President’s announcement,” he says.
However, Green’s greatest frustration is with the national media’s collusion with the liberal media attack machine.
“They simply made stuff up,” Green says of the reporting by the liberal media.
The Huffington Post, for instance, accused Green of telling a talk radio audience that he “believes that part of his mission as a public official is to ‘crush evil‘ ― and that opposing transgender equality policies is key to that effort.”
The “crush evil” link in The Huffington Post accusation goes to a recording of Green’s comments in an online radio show, The Hotwash with CJ and Alex.
A review of Green’s comments (see page 5 in the transcript of the program below) shows this is what he actually said on that topic:
That means as a state senator my responsibility very clearly in Romans 13 is to create an environment where people who do right are rewarded and people who do wrong are crushed. Evil is crushed. So, I’m going to protect women in their bathrooms, and I’m going to protect our state against potential infiltration of Syrian ISIS people through a refugee program. Whoever wants to stand up and take me on on that, I’m ready to fight.
When Green said “evil is crushed,” he was referring to sexual predators and ISIS, not transgenders.
One page later in the transcript (see page 6), Green actually said: “the bathroom issue is not a transgender problem; it is an anti-pervert issue. The transgenders are not the ones going around harming people.”
Yet, The Huffington Post ignored the facts and other media outlets repeated their false story.
Perhaps the most egregious example of completely false reporting that was repeated until the lie was accepted as truth came during a speech by Green to the Chattanooga Tea Party on September 15, 2016. (See page 11 of the transcript below.)
A questioner made reference to the Dinesh D’Souza movie “Hillary’s America” and commented about the potential threat of armed insurrection in this country. He then asked a question: “Why didn’t the Republicans stand up more strongly against Obama that has happened in the past four years?”
Green responded: “That’s a great question. Honestly, I think they’re afraid of the American voter. These guys make decisions. I think a lot of them are based on retaining power. I think it’s sad. But, I genuinely believe that this guy should not be our President.”
But the liberal publication Slate reported the exchange entirely differently, and inaccurately:
As Green’s apparently all-white audience in Chattanooga peppered him with questions about how he would stop Muslims, Latinos, transgender people and liberals from taking over the state and the country, the senator eagerly shared the group’s outrage. To a questioner who worried about armed insurrection by people who “don’t belong here, like Muslims in the United States,” Green said it was a “great question.”
Other media painted Green as anti-Latino by distorting a comment on illegal immigrants coming to Tennessee, referencing the practice of some state and local governments paying to bus illegals to other states after arrests that got widespread media attention in 2013.
When Latinos for Tennessee attempted to clear the record on Green’s support for Latinoss, Gannet News, owner of The Tennessean, refused to print the endorsement.
Many other accusations were made and nearly all were easily verified by The Tennessee Star as spurious. “Yeah, the only thing they did get correct were my views on religion,” Green added, “I am a creationist. I believe God created us in His image. I am an unapologetic Christian.”
Green is considering whether to resume a campaign for Governor, a campaign put on “hold” during the long preparation and confirmation process.
While Green was being attacked for his Bible-believing faith during the confirmation process, several other Republican candidates entered the race or announced plans to consider a campaign. Green says he intends to announce his plans to continue serving the public soon, which could include a statewide campaign or other options to serve and contribute in political, policy or business realm.
While stating that he has no regrets about accepting the nomination from President Trump, Green admits that he saw the position of Secretary of the Army as a “dream job.” Green’s only true regret is that he won’t be leading those “who so willingly put them-selves in harm’s way so that the rest of us can enjoy the freedoms that they secure for us.” But, Green says, “The Lord never closes one option without opening the path to something better that He has in mind, and His choices are always better than our own.”
The radical Left and their complicit allies in the mainstream media portrayed Green as a homophobe and anti-Muslim extremist, who was unacceptable to serve as Secretary of the Army because of his Bible-believing Christian faith. Green is concerned that other nominees who are Christians may suffer the same fate if the process allowing a single hold to block a nomination continues to prevail over fairness, truth and qualifications.
“We can expect the extremist Left to promote their agenda aggressively and without any regard for the truth,” Green says, “But those of Faith must stand up and fight against their destructive and dangerous agenda and vigorously defend those fellow Christians who step up to serve, or we will see our country continue to spiral out of control.
Full transcript of Mark Green appearance on The Hotwash:
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Read Mark Green’s full remarks to the Chattanooga Tea Party:
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You know the old saying, “A man is known by his enemies”. So that means Mark Green is a pretty darn good guy.
Mark Green can’t stand up for his own beliefs. How is he going to stand up for yours?
Not my Governor!
I am not a fan of Mark Green but that comment is really cruel and unfair. I believe there is much more to the story than what we are being told. If Green runs for Governor he will not get my vote but a coward he is not.
Please MOVE away from Tennessee, then.