Congressman John Rose (TN 6) appeared in the studio with Todd Starnes in Memphis on Wednesday, speaking to Todd’s 132 affiliate stations around the country. During the show, Rose (who is running for the GOP nomination for Governor in August) made a few newsworthy comments.
Starnes, who stated that he has endorsed Rose’s primary opponent Senator Marsha Blackburn in that gubernatorial primary, asked Rose what he thought about the fact that Blackburn left DC last week before a critical vote on the SAVE Act and got a private escort past the lines at the airport that regular citizens who don’t get special treatment were forced to endure.
“I think it’s a pattern,” Rose noted. “We saw this with the payday provision that was pushed through last Fall…to give her and other Senators the chance to get potentially millions of dollars from taxpayers; we saw this again with this example of her leaving town, bypassing security, leaving her post before the job was done; and we saw it in Nashville during the ice storm came when she requested to be put at the head of the line for having her home electricity put back on.” I think that’s exactly backwards, “we need leaders who understand that leaders eat last and we should put the people we represent first. It’s a troubling pattern,” Rose pointed out.
Starnes also noted that there are three people running in the GOP primary: Rose, Blackburn, and State Representative Monty Fritts, and Rose said he is definitely interested in debating, but that unless Blackburn is also there, it is not a real presentation. “Republican voters deserve to hear from all the Republican candidates in a debate,” Rose said and confirmed he is ready for that three-person debate, “I will absolutely be there” to debate Blackburn and Fritts.
Rose also pointedly called out Senate Majority Leader John Thune and called on Tennessee Senators Blackburn and Bill Hagerty to call Thune to task for what he is doing, and failing to do. Rose encouraged Tennesseans to contact Blackburn and Hagerty, and let them know that they are not pleased with the leadership the Senate Majority Leader is providing. Five Republican Senate votes could remove Thune as leader, Tennessee could provide 40% of that number if Blackburn and Hagerty, would act.
Steve Gill is editor and publisher of TriStar Daily.
