The School Freedom Fund by the Club for Growth on Tuesday released a digital advertisement targeting State Representative Jody Barrett (R-Dickson) in the special election for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, highlighting Barrett’s past negative comments about President Donald Trump, as well as his vote against school choice earlier this year.
Describing Barrett as “slippery as a snake in the swamp,” the ad’s narrator declares, “Barrett opposed Trump for president, slandering him with nasty, venomous insults – calling him a ‘liberal douchebag.'”
Club for Growth, which is a nonprofit that advocates for limited government, noted in a press release announcing the ad that its School Freedom Fund invested $3.6 million to see Governor Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Act become law, while defeating “four anti-school freedom Republicans in the Tennessee State Legislative primaries” ahead of the vote.
“Club for Growth also invested six figures urging lawmakers to support Governor Lee’s Education Freedom Act ahead of the bill’s final passage earlier this year,” the organization noted.
David McIntosh, the organization’s president, urged Tennessee Republicans in a post to the social media platform X, “Kick this snake to the curb!”
Jody Barrett is anti-Trump and voted against School Choice.
He's the opposite of what we need in TN-07. Kick this snake to the curb! pic.twitter.com/6q1N1QfKP1
— David M. McIntosh (@DavidMMcintosh) August 5, 2025
Barrett was one of numerous Republicans who broke party ranks earlier this year, when Governor Bill Lee called a special session to pass his school choice program. Barrett told The Tennessee Star that President Donald Trump’s endorsement of the plan would not impact his vote.
The images depicting negative comments about Trump, purportedly written by Barrett, have since circulated on social media since he entered the race early last month.
Apparently written during the Republican primary campaign in 2016, one image indicates Barrett argued the party should have nominated Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) over Trump.
“Trump has been vague, at best, about the kind of [Supreme Court] Justice he will nominate,” wrote Barrett, according to one screenshot.
He concluded the comment, “The GOP had their best conservative candidate since Reagan and they rejected him in favor of a NY liberal douchebag.”
— Michael Lotfi (@MichaelLotfi) August 5, 2025
Barrett had yet to issue a statement directly referencing the ad by press time, but wrote in a post to Facebook that he represents “proud, pro-Trump conservatism 100 [percent] of the time.”
He stated, “President Trump and America First conservatives don’t need glossy mailers or establishment endorsements – they need an unapologetic conservative with a record they can trust.”
Trump has not endorsed a candidate for the district, which became vacant after former Representative Mark Green retired from Congress last month.
Barrett faces stiff opposition for the Republican nomination. Other lawmakers in the race include State Representatives Lee Reeves (R-Franklin) and Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood), while former Tennessee Department of General Services Commissioner Matt Van Epps and Montgomery County Commissioner Jason Knight both boast government experience.
Pardoned January 6 prisoner Stewart Parks, veteran Jon Thorp, Jason Foley of Main Street Health, and former Tennessee Senate policy aide Tres Wittum, are all also seeking the nomination.
Last month, Green endorsed Van Epps to fill his seat in Congress.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Jody Barrett Ad” by David McIntosh.
I am a Trump supporter BUT I found Lee’s “school choice” legislation to be unacceptable.
Why do public schools continue to get the same funding when students choose to take the money and go elsewhere? That is paying twice for education. That is costing the taxpayers unduly. Public education costs have spiraled out of control while results have sunk into the toilet. Yet the public school teachers got a bonus in Lee’s “school choice” bill. I must assume that was to bribe the teachers to keep quiet.