Marsha Blackburn’s first TV ad (PACs backing her have spent over a million dollars to run some previous ads) is all about bashing China and concerns about their purchase of farmland in the U.S. Interestingly, the USDA registry reveals that Chinese entities own 168 parcels of land nationwide, totaling 247,659 acres, none of which are located in Tennessee…where she is running for governor.
Marsha crushes fortune cookies in the new ad criticizing China and promising to “hunt down communists.” The new ad has cost her about $112,000 so far. But Tennessee law already restricts or bans foreign land ownership by adversary countries like China, so her agenda as governor on the issue seems murky.
Two years ago, during her Senate campaign, Blackburn aired an ad with her smashing china plates (get it?). So whether it’s crushing cookies or bashing plates, Marsha is developing a consistent theme.
In the new ad, Blackburn is sitting in what looks like a Chinese restaurant at a table with a menu, a bottle of soy sauce, and a basketful of fortune cookies. As she crushes the cookies, slips of paper revealing the fortunes appear. One reads, “Marsha Blackburn will fight to protect Tennessee land from China.” Another fortune reads, “Marsha Blackburn will close loopholes and hunt down communists.” The fact that fortune cookies didn’t even originate in China is a fact that many commenting on-line have been quick to point out.
The ad ends with a clip of a cat figurine with a paw raised in a beckoning motion — a traditional Japanese symbol of good fortune. That’s right, the ceramic cat at the end of the ad is JAPANESE! Do all Asians look alike to Marsha? Maybe she should check in with fellow Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty, former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, for some advice on how to distinguish between two significantly different Asian nations, one of which is a close U.S. ally and friend.
The Tennessee Freedom Fund PAC supporting Blackburn has attacked her primary opponent, John Rose, in one ad. The ad claims Chinese firms bought Tennessee land “on his watch.” However, Rose has also consistently called to “outlaw China from buying land in Tennessee” in his gubernatorial campaign. And the radio clip cited in the attack ad leaves off the rest of the point Rose was making: that he was much more concerned about China moving Tennessee and US jobs abroad.
Ironically, or perhaps hypocritically, the largest donor to Blackburn’s affiliated Team Tennessee PAC is TikTok investor Jeff Yass. TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is based in China.
Yass, who donated a million dollars to help Blackburn secure the Governor’s office, is a huge investor in the social media app TikTok, which has close ties to the communist Chinese government. In 2024, Blackburn opposed the opening of a TikTok office in Nashville, pointing out its ties to the Chinese government and the same year called the app a “national security threat” on her Instagram post. Apparently, Marsha is more than willing to accept Chinese ties, as long as they come with big checks that benefit her.
Yass is also a prominent donor to Club for Growth, which has spent millions of dollars in Tennessee to back private school vouchers. Club for Growth was behind the $3.3 million in spending by the School Freedom Fund during the 2024 state legislative elections. The group’s success in getting pro-voucher candidates elected led Tennessee lawmakers to pass a statewide private school voucher plan in 2025. The Freedom Fund PAC has run a bogus attack ad against John Rose, blaming him for Chinese land purchases in the U.S. So, the China-affiliated tech billionaire is funding media attacks demonizing Rose for non-existent Chinese connections? Got it. But do voters?
Steve Gill is editor and publisher of TriStar Daily.
