John Rich to host Boebert fundraiser at his Nashville mansion
Country singer John Rich is hosting a fundraiser for Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert at this Nashville home this week. Also featured on the invite is former NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch.
Tickets start at $2,000 and run to $12,900 for “gold sponsors,” who get two tickets to a cocktail reception and access to the photo line.
Funk revels in GOP attacks
Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk appears undaunted by becoming a target of Republican lawmakers during last week’s special session. The prosecutor’s supporters placed placards at tables at last weekend’s annul state Democratic Party fundraiser touting Funk’s record and reveling in negative comments made about him from GOP figures like Gov. Bill Lee, Senate Speaker Randy McNally, and House Speaker Cameron Sexton.
Republican lawmakers last week passed legislation calling for a special prosecutor to be appointed if a local DA refuses to prosecute certain crimes. Funk has drawn the ire of lawmakers for saying he wouldn’t bring charges for possession of small amounts of marijuana. He’s also said he won’t prosecute a state law requiring businesses owners to post warnings that they allow transgender people to use bathrooms of their choice.
Funk is up for re-election to another eight-year term in August.
Here are images of Funk’s placard:
Boyd pulls out of Pody fundraiser
University of Tennessee President Randy Boyd won’t be hosting that fundraiser for firebrand state Sen. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) after all.
The Tennessee Journal noted the odd political alliance in Friday’s print edition, leading to follow-up reporting by the Knoxville News Sentinel and Knoxville Compass. Pody was heavily involved in the “Stop the Steal” movement following last year’s presidential election and has been a main sponsor of legislation seeking to exempt the state from the U.S. Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision and to allow men to block their female sexual partners’ decisions to get an abortion.
“Senator Pody has been a long-time friend,” Boyd said in statement Friday. “We do not agree on all issues. But he called and asked for my help, and I said, yes, in my role as a private citizen and not in any official capacity.”
By Saturday, Boyd was singing a different tune, the Knox News reports. In an email to faculty members, Boyd said his offer to pay for the breakfast was mistakenly interpreted as agreeing to host the event.
“I have not solicited nor did I intend to solicit any contributions for him,” Boyd wrote. “I have not made a contribution to him either personally or through a PAC. I am also not attending the event and have decided not to pay for the breakfast.”
Here’s what Trump told donors at his Nashville fundraiser
The Washington Post has the details of what President Donald Trump told donors at a high-dollar fundraiser in Nashville before the final presidential debate last week.
The president said he expected Republicans to have a difficult time keeping control of the Senate, though he expressed confidence the GOP would claw back a majority in the House. He repeated the latter prediction (which isn’t shared by polls or conventional wisdom) during the debate itself.
“I think the Senate is tough actually. The Senate is very tough,” the Post quoted Trump as saying at the event at the new J.W. Marriott in downtown Nashville. “There are a couple senators I can’t really get involved in. I just can’t do it. You lose your soul if you do. I can’t help some of them. I don’t want to help some of them.”
Jesse Hunt, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said there’s no evidence the president isn’t supporting certain Republican candidates.
“The Republican-led Senate and President Trump have had a great partnership over the last four years, highlighted by the fact the chamber is poised to confirm a third Trump Supreme Court nominee in the coming days,” Hunt told the paper. “Nancy Pelosi has turned the House into a liberal nightmare and if Chuck Schumer gets control of the Senate, he’ll do the same thing.”
Republicans have a 53-47 advantage in the Senate, meaning Democrats would need four seats to take control if Trump wins next, or three if the Biden prevails as the vice president serves as a tie-breaking vote.
The Post says Trump aslo bashed the news media, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Democrats for being obsessed with Russian disinformation. Nobody asked any tough questions from audience members, one of whom praised the president for taking on the “medical swamp” over COVID-19.
