U.S. Representative John Rose (R-TN-05) on Wednesday claimed he participated in the Tennessee Tax Revolt that paralyzed the Tennessee General Assembly as it considered enacting a statewide income tax in 2002, but The Tennessee Star has confirmed the photo Rose uploaded to social media was taken at a 2004 reunion event.
In a portion of a social media post extolling his conservative credentials, Rose wrote Wednesday to X, “This red truck is what my friend John and I drove around the State Capitol during the income tax debates. The locomotive horn on the back was so loud, it shook the glass inside the Capitol!”
I’ve been a conservative my whole life. In Congress I’m a staunch supporter of President Trump, stood by him on Jan 6. He endorsed me in every run for Congress.
In TN, I helped fund the GOP takeover of the state legislature and worked hard against the state income tax. This red… pic.twitter.com/GFsNFPI3Bq— John Rose (@JohnRoseforTN) July 29, 2026
The image uploaded by Rose was actually captured on June 26, 2004, when activists held an event for horn honkers at parking lot R of the Nissan Coliseum in Nashville to celebrate their success from two years prior. According to The Nashville Scene, this political event was organized by the Tennessee Tax Revolt Inc., and admission cost attendees $35.
The Star was able to determine this after discovering another photo of the red truck captured during the same event. Photographed from a slightly different angle (pictured here), the red truck is parked in an identical position as in the photo posted to social media by Rose.
Additionally, public maps reveal the photo uploaded by Rose was taken from inside the Coliseum parking lot where the Tennessee Tax Revolt held its event in 2004. The stadium, and parking lot R, are notably located on the opposite side of the the Cumberland River as the State Capitol, where the horn honkers protested during the protests in 2002.
The Star asked the Rose campaign on Thursday to provide more information about the photograph, as well as any additional photos of Rose participating in the protests, or other accounts of his involvement, but did not receive a response before press time.
Prior to his Wednesday post to social media, The Star could not locate a public statement by Rose referring to his participation in the Tennessee Tax Revolt, despite one of his early primary opponents sharing his early political history as a participant while on the campaign trail in 2017.
Rose launched his first campaign for the U.S. House just three years after Tennessee passed its constitutional amendment prohibiting a statewide income tax.
In addition to its questions about the photograph and his participation, the Rose campaign did not tell The Star why he participated in the protests despite donating to Democrats who supported the taxes he claims he opposed.
Between 1998 and 2010, Rose donated more than $19,000 to Democrats, including former State Senator Bob Rochelle (D-Lebanon), who submitted an early income tax proposal in 2002. Two years earlier, in 2000, Rochelle passed a resolution honoring Rose for his success in business.
Other pro-income tax Democrats who received donations from Rose included State Representatives Matt Kisber (D-Jackson), Bobby Sands (D-Columbia), Aaron Rhinehart (D-Spencer), and John White (D-Lawrenceberg), who Rose donated to for a second time after he voted in favor of the income tax.
Rose also donated to the 1998 congressional campaign by State Senator Jerry Cooper (D-McMinville), who supported the statewide income tax. Rose did not donate to Cooper’s campaigns for the General Assembly.
The final victory that ended the attempt by Democrats and former Governor Don Sundquist to impose an income tax on the state came with a vote in the Tennessee General Assembly on July 3, 2002. Within weeks, Rose accepted an appointment by Sundquist to serve in his cabinet as Commissioner of Agriculture. A Republican, Sundquist had called for a statewide income tax despite previously promising voters on the campaign trail that he would not seek such a tax if elected.
After leaving the Sundquist administration, Rose was tapped by former Governor Phil Bredesen, a Democrat, for another position with the state.
Just months before the June 2004 event where Rose’s photo of the red truck was captured, he voted in the Democratic presidential primary. At the time, Democrat voters in Tennessee chose between former Secretary of State John Kerry, former U.S. Senator John Edwards, Vermont Governor Howard Dean, civil rights figure Al Sharpton, former U.S. General Wesley Clark, and former U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich.
Rose would vote in a Democratic primary contest for the second time in 2004 in August, when he cast a ballot to select the Tennessee Democrats’ nominee to represent the 6th Congressional District. He also voted during a Democratic county primary in May 2002.
His claims of participation in the Tennessee Tax Revolt contrast with the record of his gubernatorial primary opponent, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who was a state lawmaker during the 1998-2002 period that an income tax was being considered. She recently described this portion of her career as a four-year battle to stop lawmakers from enacting an income tax.
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Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
Photos “Tennessee Tax Revolt 1998 – 2001” by TNTaxRevolt.org and used with permission.
He will not be getting my vote.
This guy is bad news, a liar and he says a former democrat, who knows the truth with this guy. He seems like he is desperate to cover his past. A# one loser and a deceptive liar.