LEBANON, Tennessee – First-term and firebrand congresswoman from Georgia’s 14th District was the featured speaker at the Wilson County Republican Party Trump Day Dinner held Thursday at the Farm Bureau Exposition Center on Baddour Parkway in Lebanon with nearly 400 people in attendance.
It was the largest event of its kind for the Wilson County GOP and coincides with the first time that Republican Party primaries will be held in the county.
For an hour prior to the start of the event, there was a VIP event for table and event sponsors the extra cost for which will serve to help Greene with her campaign funding.
Greene, whose remarks were delivered without any written notes, had plenty of humor mixed in and lasted for an hour, took to the stage to a standing ovation after an introduction by her fellow Republican Congressman John Rose (R-TN-06) whose district encompasses Wilson County.
“You guys did your job when it came to the election on November 3, and Georgia – we failed,” Greene, the staunch Trump supporter started off.
“This is an issue that I’m upset about, my state is upset about and we are continuing to push for because we need election integrity. We need to make sure everyone’s vote is safe. We need to make sure elections are safe and elections are not stolen. So, I’ll tell you, on behalf of Georgia, a lifelong Georgian, Trump won,” said Greene, obviously hitting a nerve given the cheers from the crowd.
“And we’ll do a better job in 2024 if he chooses to run again. I promise you that,” said Greene.
Shouted to Greene from the audience was the response, “Let’s fix 2020!”
“Yes, let’s fix 2020. I agree,” said Greene.
Greene said that at eight months in, she is brand new to congress or any elected office.
“Never held office before. Never wanted to. As a matter of fact, I never went to GOP meetings before I ran for congress. I was not involved in any way, but I did love the President of the United States, President Donald J. Trump,” admitted Greene to attendees who are also obvious Trump supporters.
I’ve always been a conservative, but here’s the issue. The reason why I ran for Congress is because I know who Democrats are. We all know who they are. They tell us every single day. Right? They speak their values out loud. Their values we can’t relate to and their values are destroying our country. But it’s the Republicans that I always relate to, when I listen to them on television, when I heard them on the campaign trail, when I read the words that they said.
But it was the first two years under President Trump when I found out that not all Republicans actually follow through on what they say.
You see, my husband and I are some of those Americans that Obamacare took our health insurance premium from $800 a month to over $2,400 a month. So, when Republicans said over and over and over ‘repeal Obamacare,’ you better bet we were standing up cheering about that, saying ‘please, repeal Obamacare,’ because it’s hurting our health care and hurting our insurance premiums.
And, then Republicans always said that they want to defund Planned Parenthood. Well, that’s something that I really want. I’m pro-life. I believe that life starts at conception. I’m a mother of three children. It’s the best part of my life. It’s the greatest thing I ever will be is being a mother and I think it’s a blessing and I think abortion is a lie sold to women. It doesn’t fulfill them. And abortion will not help them achieve their dreams and their goals. So, it’s a lie. So, when Republicans said they want to defund Planned Parenthood, I said ‘yes, please do.’
And then they also said things like they would help President Trump build a wall. I don’t know how many of you chanted the ‘build the wall’ chant at Trump rallies. I know I did, because I actually went to those. And a wall made sense to me. Border security made sense to me. So, I liked fund the wall with my tax dollars and then build it to protect our country.
So, they made promises like this, but it was the first two years under President Trump that for the first time Republicans really let me down. And I noticed it because we had President Trump in the White House with pen in hand waiting to sign bills that funded and built a wall, waiting to sign legislation that repealed Obamacare and waiting to sign legislation that defunded the abortion mill, Planned Parenthood.
But, that didn’t happen, ladies and gentlemen, under a Republican-controlled House and a Republican- controlled Senate, and President Trump in the White House. No.
You know what they did? Republicans not only didn’t repeal Obamacare, they didn’t defund Planned Parenthood – they funded it – and they did not fund and build our border wall when President Trump asked them to over and over again.
So, I was also one of those Republicans that was not surprised when, unfortunately, we lost the majority of the House in 2018. I wasn’t surprised.
And, then when we watched Nancy Pelosi take the gavel in 2019, I understood because Republicans in the House did not give Republican voters a reason to show up and vote for them.
Now I feel we’re in a similar situation. I’m frustrated and I’m angry, just like you are, at the past eight months. I’m still shocked over the election, but I cannot believe the destruction that’s occurring in our country.
Greene delivered a just portion of the litany of issues that have developed or changed drastically since Joe Biden was sworn in as president on January 20, 2021, such as energy independence to dependence on OPEC and foreign oil, being on the brink of passing the Green New Deal that will make the country through electric vehicle mandates dependent on our enemy – Communist China – that dominates the battery market through control of the rare earth minerals, a $1.1 trillion infrastructure bill, and at least a $2 trillion budget bill.
One particularly humorous moment came when Greene spoke about Pelosi’s pet project known as Presidio Park.
Greene said Pelosi had been in Congress almost longer than Greene has been alive. “Pretty amazing she’s able to keep her teeth in. Actually, it’s pretty impressive.” As the attendees took in Greene’s comments, more and more started to laugh, which made Greene have to pause for her own laughter before she could continue speaking.
As Fox Business reported, Pelosi snuck a $200 million earmark into the $3.5 trillion budget resolution from early September for her San Francisco district’s Presidio Park. Greene said that Pelosi was rather smart in establishing the park in 1996 with a trust – that reportedly had a $443 million balance at the beginning of the 2020 fiscal year – all while alleging it is “financially self-sufficient.”
Since its initial introduction, there has been talk about lowering the budget price tag in order to gain the votes of two holdout Democrat senators. But, Greene advised, Pelosi’s $200 million remains.
“That is a level of corruption that is outrageous to me. As a matter of fact, it’s a level of corruption that I think Nancy Pelosi should be kicked out of congress and I honestly think she should be in jail,” Greene declared, receiving one of the loudest applauses during her remarks and some shouts of “Lock her up.”
Greene talked about COVID-19, calling for holding China accountable and the firing Director of NIAID Anthony Fauci, saying that masks are child abuse and noting that the DOJ and FBI are now targeting parents speaking before their school board in opposition to the masking of their children.
Greene touched upon the issue at the country’s southern border as well as the Afghanistan withdrawal with its abandoned principle of “no man left behind” and arming the Taliban by leaving $85 billion worth of equipment behind to “a radical Islamic terrorist nation.”
What she said was worse, though, is the 13 families that are mourning because their military soldier family member was inexcusably killed, because, Greene said, they were told ahead of time that they had intelligence there was going to be an ISIS-K suicide bomber in the next 24 to 48 hours.
As a result of all of these issues, Greene said, “I think what we should be saying every single day is ‘Impeach Joe Biden.’”
Amongst the loud applause were chants of “Let’s go Brandon,” the phrase used as a euphemism for a chant related to Joe Biden that came about when an NBC reporter tried to do damage control as the more profane chanting took place when Brandon Brown won a NASCAR race earlier this month.
Pointing out that the nation’s economy has still not recovered and now there are shortages in the critical supply chain as ships are sitting off ports without enough dock workers and truck drivers, Greene said is “because our government has been competing with private business and paying people to stay home. That’s a problem. Big, big problem.”
In light of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell bowing this week to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to extend the debt ceiling, Greene said Republicans shouldn’t be helping Biden pass his agenda.
“Republicans should not help Democrats destroy America. We have to stop that.”
“I have a different vision of the GOP. I have a vision for Republicans that actually do what they say when they’re talking on Fox News, when they’re on the campaign trail, when they’re asking you to donate to them. I think we should actually follow through.”
Greene may have been stripped of her committee assignments less than a month after being sworn in to her first term, but said she is not one to just sit around.
While on the House floor one day back in February, Greene learned that votes were done by voice and the speaker, a Democrat who was not Pelosi that Greene humorously referred to as “speaker mask face,” declared that a bill passed.
When Greene asked a staffer what happened since she hadn’t inserted her card or pushed a button to cast her vote, she was incredulous when she was told that the vote is at the discretion of the speaker.
After reviewing House rules, Greene learned that she could ask for a recorded vote.
She called the process “magical,” with all members of congress having to stop what they are doing – lunch, committee meeting, fund raising calls, waking up from their nap – and walk all the way down to the chamber and all 435 having to insert their card and push a button.
With a background of cheers and applause, Greene said, “See you guys like it, too! I like it!”
“You know, there’s a green button. If you agree with communism, you push the green button. There’s a beautiful red button, and we’re all Republicans. We love red. You push that one as many times as you can, because we all know you can vote a lot. We learned that in 2020.”
“I’m the best member of Congress. I’m helping everyone,” Greene declared with a note of sarcasm.
In addition to assisting members of congress with getting additional exercise walking all the way to the House floor to cast their vote, “I’m helping Democrats and Republicans know how all their members of congress vote. I’m helping the whole country by asking for recorded votes,” said Greene, to the obvious approval of attendees clapping and cheering.
Greene’s fellow members of congress weren’t as appreciative of her requests for recorded votes.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD-05) complained to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-23) for Greene’s slowing down the Democrats’ push for their agenda, and Republicans were also unhappy about having their votes on record.
Greene kept at it, though, and then the House Freedom Caucus joined her.
“Now, most members of Congress most of the time ask for recorded votes – which I think is pretty cool,” said Greene to more applause.
The reason for telling the story, Greene said, “is so you can understand how in the world we got to where we are. It’s like that. It’s when congress is so broken that 435 members of congress hardly ever vote. They just get to pass whatever they want by saying it and then the person up there in the chair gets to gavel in whatever they want.”
Greene said that whenever she gives a speech, she gives a reminder to people.
While you see people like me in congress working – and we’re supposed to be working for you – you have a job, too. You see the government is for the people and by the people, but when the people are too busy to hold the government accountable, well these are the results we’re getting.
It’s just like being a parent and never disciplining your children. If you never discipline your children, you’re going to have some pretty bad rotten kids. Well, I am one of those mean mommies that always disciplined my kids. That’s why, as a member of congress, I’m working very hard holding congress accountable. Working very hard to fight against the Democrats, but I can’t do it by myself. Congressman Rose can’t do it by himself. We need all of you to help us. We need all of you to get involved.
You’re doing a great job, Wilson County. Look at you guys. You guys are having a huge event tonight. But you need to make sure your county is what you want and your state is what you want and your country is what you want.
You can do that by making friends with all these people in this room. You should all have each other’s phone numbers and be best friends because you clearly all think alike. You should be working hard for your schools and your school board and your county and your state. You should be fussing at Georgia and say hey guys get your election right. Right?
“But you guys should be calling Congress. I’m serious. Calling congress. You can call my office. All the Antifa members call my office all the time,” joked Greene.
“What you guys can do is call and show up. Don’t be afraid to show up,” Greene said reassuringly. “This is your country. They can’t round us all up, because there’s too many of us and there’s not enough of them.”
Greene started to wrap up with emphasizing the importance of winning the 2022 mid-term elections.
“What we really want is we need a majority controlled Republican House. How we’re going to do that is that it’s going to take a whole lot of us because, obviously, we need to double our votes, because we didn’t have enough last time. So, we have to get more voters than we had last time because we have to beat out all the cheating. So, we’re going to have to work really hard and not give up. And, it’s new for us. And you want to know why it’s new for us? We were complacent and we took our freedoms for granted. We were complacent and we thought going to work every day and paying our taxes was enough. We thought that our government would never turn into what it is now. But it has, and these Democrats are not going to change anything they’re doing,” snapping her fingers, “like that.”
“It’s going to take all of you making sure that they stop and how we do that is by winning in 2022. We have to fix our elections. We have to never let it happen again, but we also have to keep voting. Because, here’s the deal. It’s like going out to a battle and sitting on the sidelines and watching the war. If we don’t show up and vote, if we don’t volunteer, if we don’t get involved and get in the process then all we are is sitting on the sidelines watching our country lose. I don’t want to lose. I am a sore loser. I want to win. I want to go back to winning all the time,” Greene said alluding to one of Trump’s campaign promises.
“I never got tired of it. Did you?”
In winding down, Greene expressed her appreciation for being invited to the event and offered a few additional thoughts.
“So, Wilson County. Number one, thank you for having me. Number two, I’d love to come back. You guys are amazing. I’ll go a couple more. Number three, let’s encourage Donald J. Trump to run for president again in 2024. I love him. I love ‘em. I won’t be one of those Republicans that goes ‘Oh, I like Trump policies but we need to move on from Trump.’ Nope. I’m happy to have him back and I hope he comes back. But we also have to work hard and stop the Democrat communists from stealing our country, destroying our freedoms and taking away our kids’ future.”
“It’s going to be a long, drawn-out fight. It might last the rest of our lives. But, I’ll tell you why it’s worth it. It’s worth it, because it’s our generation’s turn and we have to pass that torch of freedom on to our kids and it’s our job to make sure that we don’t lose our freedoms. So, keep up the fight, Wilson County. God bless you guys. God bless America and thank you for having me tonight,” Greene concluded to a standing ovation.
Before introducing Greene as the event’s featured speaker, Rose was presented with the first ever Freedom Award by the Wilson County GOP Executive Committee. Rose’s wife and mother of their two sons, Chelsea, was in attendance and Rose handed her the crystal eagle statue after he left the stage.
The emcee for the evening was Rose’s Deputy District Director Ray Render.
The opening and closing prayers were led by Dr. Ben Graham, pastor of Music City Baptist Church.
State Senator Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) lead the pledge to the American flag while State Representative Clark Boyd (R-Lebanon) lead the pledge to the Tennessee flag.
Not only did State Representative Terri Lynn Weaver (R-Lancaster) sing her heartfelt rendition of two verses of the national anthem at the start of the event, but after the remarks were delivered, she sang and played on her guitar Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” which she introduced by telling attendees, “You were born for such a time as this.”
During their brief remarks, Wilson County GOP Chairman Brad Lytle and Tennessee GOP Chairman Scott Golden both mentioned the tremendous growth in the Wilson County GOP and that a party primary would be taking place for all elected positions for the first time in the county. Lytle recognized the efforts of his predecessors, former Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) and Terri Nicholson, who is now the state executive committeewoman for the district as well as that of Jerry Beavers, the current state executive committeeman for the district.
Wilson County-based gun manufacturer specializing in the machining of AR-15 lower receivers, Rusty Oak Armory, raffled off one of the popular firearms which was won by one of the event sponsors Grade A Construction.
Attendees were also entertained by award-winning country music entertainer Joe Rucker.
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Laura Baigert is a senior reporter at The Star News Network, where she covers stories for The Tennessee Star and The Georgia Star News.
