Hamilton County mayoral candidate Weston Wamp’s stance on former President Donald Trump could help Wamp attract votes from county Democrats.
This, according to a Saturday opinion piece that cited a recent Tennessee Star article about Wamp.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press published the column and said Wamp “spends a lot of time talking about national issues.”
Wamp was featured recently in an article in The New Yorker, which was titled ‘The Pro-Trump Case for Rejecting the Big Lie: Weston Wamp, a young conservative from Tennessee, is on a mission to convince others on the right that Joe Biden won the 2020 election,” The Times Free Press reported.
In the article, Wamp said he didn’t care if people called him a Republican-in-Name-Only (RINO) “because there’s a ton of evidence that I’m conservative.”
The Times Free Press then said that only one Democrat, Matt Adams, has declared he intends to run for Hamilton County mayor.”
“So, unless a major name jumps in the race in the next few days, many Democrats will be glancing at the Republican field to determine which candidate might be the most palatable to them and which one could prompt them to cross over and vote for in the primary. That’s where Wamp might get a boost,” The Times Press said.
“Although we believe the race ought to focus solely on local matters, his words on what he called ‘the truth’ of the presidential race could garner some love from left-of-center voters, who passionately hate Trump and are desperately trying to make him the face of all elections in 2022.”
Last month, The Tennessee Star linked to a series of tweets that Wamp published that reveal an intense dislike and even a resistance to Trump.
In more than one tweet, Weston Wamp denied that Trump is a conservative. In another post, Wamp warned that Trump, as president, would likely derail the national economy and spark a recession. In another post, Wamp predicted that the former president would demolish the Republican Party.
Wamp is the son of former Tennessee Republican Congressman Zach Wamp.
The Star first asked Weston Wamp last month whether he will publicly denounce his father’s recent letter supporting Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY At-large District) and Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL-16) for their work investigating the events of January 6, 2021.
“I am not my father, and I had nothing to do with the letter,” Wamp said at the time, without elaborating.
The Star then asked Weston Wamp whether he worries Trump will endorse one of Wamp’s opponents in the Hamilton County primary.
“No, because I am the most conservative candidate running for Hamilton County mayor,” Wamp said.
Zach Wamp – who served in the House of Representatives for eight terms from 1995-2011 – advises a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, Issue One, that, according to its website, “unites Republicans, Democrats, and independents in the movement to fix our broken political system.”
The elder Wamp serves on the council alongside former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile, former Secretary of State Madeline Albright, former U.S. Senate majority leaders Tom Daschle and Bill Frist, former Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, and former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele.
Issue One’s website lists Weston Wamp as a consultant and senior political strategist for the nonprofit.
Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star and The Georgia Star News. Follow Chris on Facebook, Twitter, Parler, and GETTR. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Weston Wamp” by Weston Wamp.
What has he done, what is his record. I am tired of people using platforms for a greater call in their own lives. Does he really care about Hamilton County or is this his prop to take over his dads former position. That is the problem with Government right now, people don’t care about the constituents, it’s all about power
He’s a dem. No doubt about it.