NASHVILLE - With Super Bowl LII fast approaching, Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Marsha Blackburn on Friday launched radio ads playing up the NFL kneeling controversy, telling listeners "I stand" during the national anthem.
The 90-second spot, produced by Something Else Strategies, is airing on conservative talk radio stations statewide leading up to the Feb. 4 nationally televised game.
In 2016, some NFL players, many of them black, began silently protesting police shootings and racial inequality during the playing of "The Star Spangled Banner," prompting a backlash from many conservatives, including President Donald Trump, who say it's disrespectful.
U.S. Rep. Blackburn has previously criticized the silent protests. Her ad begins with an announcer's voiceover, saying, "Veterans. They fought for our freedom and they deserve our respect - every single day."
The spot then switches to Blackburn, who says, "I'm Marsha Blackburn. I stand for our veterans, the president and 'The Star Spangled Banner.'"
After the narrator weighs in with "Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee conservative," Blackburn says: "I think it is important that each of us take that three minutes and use that as a time to sing those words. You have freedom of speech, you have a right of peaceful protest, but during that three minutes that belongs to people who have fought to defend the freedoms that we have."
The announcer then says: "Marsha Blackburn, standing with our veterans."
Blackburn faces former U.S. Rep. Stephen Fincher in the Aug. 2 GOP primary. Former Gov. Phil Bredesen, is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.