State Senator Mark Green (R-Clarksville) told WWTN 99.7 FM’s Pamela Furr, sitting in as host of the Dan Mandis Show on Thursday, that he will “be making an announcement in the next day or so” about his political future.
Furr also asked Green about his plans after his announcement last month that he was withdrawing as a candidate for the Secretary of the Army.
Green has been widely mentioned as a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor of Tennessee in 2018. Furr also noted that there were rumors that he might instead challenge Senator Bob Corker, who is also up for re-election in 2018.
“Now what are you going to do?” Furr asked.
“We have pretty much settled on a decision and are looking to probably make an announcement in the next day or so on what’s next for us. There are lots of options out there. We’ll be making an announcement in the next day or so,” Green said.
Furr pressed Green to respond to some of his critics.
“There are those that think you backed down pretty quickly. What would you say to those who would be critical of you?” Furr asked.
“The issue of pulling my name out of the hat was just what I said earlier. The soldiers of the US Army deserve leadership,” Green answered.
“If it becomes about me, I’m going to step away. And we’re going to get someone in there who can be their leader,” the former Army doctor said.
“We could stay there and fight indefinitely while a Senator blocks the vote,” he explained.
Green also noted that his hands were somewhat tied in responding to these false stories about him.
“During the nomination process, I wasn’t allowed to talk to the media,” Green added.
Earlier in the interview, Furr asked Green “what happened” in the nomination process.
“There was this concerted effort from the left to take down a Trump nominee,” Green told Furr.
“They strategically prepared these news articles, all of which were false. The accusations about saying ‘transgender people were evil,’ I never said that, I was talking about ISIS,” Green noted.
“It got to a point where they weren’t going to vote on my nomination,” Green said.
“The U.S. Senate has this, I don’t know if it’s a policy or a rule that, basically, any Senator can indefinitely block a nominee. I’m told ‘the Democrats are going to block the vote. You’re never going to get a vote on your nomination,’ ” Green said.
“Did you feel you were kind of out there alone? Were you getting support from our U.S Senators?” Furr asked.
“Senator Corker helped a great deal. He attempted to arrange a meeting between myself and McCain and from my understanding had lunch with McCain and tried to get the appointment set up. It just never happened,” Green answered.
“Do you know who the Senator was that blocked you?” Furr asked Green.
“No, Â I was not given the names. The leadership came to me and said, hey, this is going to happen. I was not given the names,” he said.
Green did however, mention two well known liberal Democrat Senators who had very publicly opposed his nomination: Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
“Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren–they  were adamantly opposed to me because of these lies that were propagated in the media,” Green told Furr.
Green also spoke to The Tennessee Star on Thursday about his withdrawal as a candidate for Secretary of the Army.
The Star broke the story on Wednesday in an exclusive interview with Green that a single Democrat Senator had blocked his nomination.
“I was not told the names of the Democrat Senators who were promising their liberal activist groups to put a hold on the nomination,” Green told The Star.
“I was specifically advised that there were several Democrat Senators planning to do it, and that it only takes one to stop the process indefinitely, and that it was going to happen,” he added.
You can listen to a complete recording of the interview HERE.
President Trump and the Army’s loss of Mark Green as its next leader is a large blow to restoring commonsense and curtailing the political correctness that prevents it. Too many concessions were made during the Obama administration. The Army is effective when it is united by soldiers with a common belief that they are Americans first. Enlistment is voluntary, persons who enlist should not expect special treatment. Work hours should involve military work activities, not exceptions for religious rituals. Soldiers should dress like other soldiers with no exceptions for religious beards, attire, etc. Our military must be fierce, not laughable to other countries, or appearing weak because it tries to be so tolerant, inclusive and so, so kind.
As far as Mark Green, I am very happy he returned to TN. I call him our TN Swamp For who had the wisdom to leave that despicable place and return where we appreciate him. Mark Green is a strong leader and has always been a true conservative, not a convenient one. Several sources told me that TN is becoming more conservative-we need a strong conservative as Governor, along with more conservatives in the TN Legislature. Mark please run and give us someone to believe in and help win!