Matthew Giffin: Jon Meacham and Liz Cheney Refused to Take Questions at Polarizing Vanderbilt Event That Claimed to Be About ‘Unity’

Liz Cheney

Matthew Giffin, reporter at The Tennessee Star and student at Middle Tennessee State University, joined Wednesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss former Wyoming U.S. Representative Liz Cheney’s appearance at an event at Vanderbilt University this week.

On Tuesday, Cheney joined Jon Meacham, former MSNBC contributor and current co-chair of the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy, for an event titled “Defending Our Democracy” where the pair discussed Cheney’s work on the January 6th Committee and the “health of democracy and the presidency.”

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Liz Cheney Visits Vanderbilt, Warns Democracy in Danger by Trump Supporters

Former U.S. Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY-at large) and former MSNBC contributor Jon Meacham warned their audience at Vanderbilt University of increasing support for former President Donald Trump as a threat to democracy ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

During the public conversation on January 6, titled “Defending Our Democracy,” Meacham and Cheney agreed that “Trumpism” is a cult and suggested the country may have to be recovered by “great violence and upheaval.”

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Trump Critic Co-Chairs Vanderbilt ‘Unity and American Democracy’ Project

Jon Meacham

Outspoken former President Donald Trump critic Jon Meacham, who compared Trump’s rhetoric to that of Nazi Germany’s Third Reich, serves as a co-chair of Vanderbilt University’s “Project on Unity and American Democracy.”

Vanderbilt launched the project in 2021 because the United States “has become disconnected from evidence and reason” and suffers from political and ideological polarization, according to its website.

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Leahy and Carmichael Discuss Jon Meacham’s Appointment to University of Tennessee’s Institute for American Civics

Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio to discuss their efforts to verify that historian Jon Meacham penned Joe Biden’s hate speech last week and his recent appointment to the board of taxpayer-funded Institute for American Civics at University of Tennessee.

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Leftist Author Jon Meacham Named to Board of University of Tennessee’s Institute for American Civics

Author and former MSNBC contributor Jon Meacham was named to the Board of Fellows of the University of Tennessee’s newly established Institute for American Civics last week by University of Tennessee President Randy Boyd.

German-owned Politico reported that Meacham helped President Joe Biden “frame” his now infamously divisive “speech from hell” delivered in Philadelphia last week in which he attacked the 74 million Americans who voted for former President Donald Trump as a “threat to American democracy.”

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Commentary: The Trump ‘CT Scanner’ Exposes the Malignancies of the Elites for All to See

These past four years, Donald Trump, intentionally or not, became a CT scanner that produced three-dimensional images of the innards of elite institutions and people, showing us what is beneath their veneers. He had an eerie manner of replying to critics in such an upstart fashion that those who objected to his supposed crudity proved cruder in repartee than he. And he showcased his successes for America in such a way as to make his enemies wish that successes for their country were failures instead.

If one suspected before 2017 that White House CNN correspondent Jim Acosta was a lightweight blowhard, be now confirmed you had been naïve in such a balanced assessment. 

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Vanderbilt University Won’t Say If They Will Dismiss Jon Meacham After Ethical Lapse Involving His Involvement With Joe Biden

MSNBC has dismissed Vanderbilt professor Jon Meacham from his job as a network contributor because he did not inform network staff that he was writing speeches for former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.

The Tennessee Star left two messages with Vanderbilt University Tuesday, one by phone and one by email. We asked Vanderbilt officials if they planned to relieve Meacham of his duties because of his ethical lapse and lack of transparency.

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Crom Carmichael Clarifies Historian Jon Meacham’s False Claims on MSNBC About the Insurrection Act of 1807

Live from Music Row Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. –  host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael in the studio.

In a continued discussion, Leahy and Carmichael discussed Jon Meacham’s recent appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and his dishonest and failed acknowledgment of the Insurrection Act of 1807.

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‘Never Trumper’ Historian Jon Meacham Continues His Sour Patterns of Predictable Thought

During the second hour of Monday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy, all star panelist Crom Carmichael discussed historian Jon Meacham’s recent comments on Meet the Press where he again referenced Trump as being a monarchical ruler. Carmichael observed Meacham as a person filled with contempt and arrogance as he continues his repetitive anti-Trump narrative. He added that he thought Meacham would never speak with those who disagree with him and that for someone so intelligent, he lacks adding anything new to the conversation.

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Vanderbilt to Host Never-Trumper, Former Senator Jeff Flake, in Liberal Love Fest Lecture Series Thursday

Never-Trumper and now former U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) is bringing his show Thursday to liberal Vanderbilt University to preach his agenda to a friendly audience at the Chancellor’s Lecture Series. Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill said, “It certainly hasn’t taken former Senator Flake long to move from criticizing Republicans on the taxpayer’s dime to doing the same thing for even larger payoffs from the #fakenews media and liberal academic institutions. Their favorite Republicans are the ones who attack Republicans, and Flake is only too happy to fill that role. Do they pay him with 30 pieces of silver for each appearance? Based on the overwhelmingly leftwing list of previous speakers at the Vanderbilt Chancellor’s Lectures, Flake is a perfect fit.” Vanderbilt is touting Flake’s anti-Trump record to promote the event, which starts at 6:30 p.m. in Langford Auditorium. The university’s press release says, “Fresh from a term that included several highly publicized ideological clashes with the president, former Sen. Jeff Flake will visit Vanderbilt University to explain his hopes for American politics going forward.” Flake is being joined by Zoe Chace, producer of “This American Life,” whom the university says produced a show highlighting his work before he…

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