Black TV ad attacks Boyd and Lee as ‘moderates’

Diane Black has become the first gubernatorial candidate to air a TV attack ad. It targets two of her fellow Republicans, Randy Boyd and Bill Lee, calling both of them moderates and depicting Black as the only conservative in the GOP primary. Beth Harwell isn’t mentioned.

Transcript:

“Diane Black, endorsed by the NRA. And she helped write Trump’s tax cut.

Is Diane Black “too conservative”? Randy Boyd says she is. But Randy Boyd also disavowed Donald Trump in 2016. Boyd even calls himself the “most hated political entity — a moderate.”

Bill Lee’s a moderate too. He pushed for a liberal Nashville Mayor who tried to make Nashville a sanctuary city.

This race is simple. Two Moderates or Conservative Diane Black.”

The Times Free Press report elaborates on some of the ad visuals and statements.  For example, in declaring that Boyd disavowed Trump, the ad flashes a Nashville Post headline from June of 2016, which cited a CNN article on a Utah meeting hosted back in 2012 by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

The CNN story described Boyd as someone who had not been a long-time bundler of campaign funds but had raised money out of loyalty to Romney.”He is somebody I would aspire to be like,” Boyd was quoted saying of Romney. The article, which noted Boyd wasn’t raising money for Trump, quoted him saying “the idea of putting my name on anything is anathema to me.”

Boyd was not quoted by CNN nor in the Nashville Post article as specifically criticizing Trump.

Black’s ad takes a final swipe at Boyd, charging he supported a proposed 15 percent property tax increase proposal in Knox County, citing a 2012 article in the Knoxville Sentinel in which he described himself as a “moderate.”

The ad then turns its attention to Lee, saying “and Bill Lee’s a moderate too. He pushed for a Nashville mayor who tried to make Nashville a sanctuary city.”

The Tennessean report says the reference is to donating money to former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s 2015 mayoral campaign. While she was in office, the Metro Council considered briefly – then dropped — an ordinance that was depicted as making Nashville a sanctuary city.

Lee’s campaign spokesman, Chris Burger, said, “It’s not surprising Congresswoman Black is launching this desperate attack, it’s what career politicians do when their campaigns are failing. We’re confident Tennesseans will see through this.”