Sen. Marsha Blackburn believes Tennesseans want to move past the Mueller report and pledged Thursday to focus her term on the fight between freedom and what she called socialist policies.
The freshman Republican senator told the Rotary Club of Chattanooga that Tennesseans don’t want to see guaranteed wages, an open border, guaranteed health care, free education or expanded environmental policies such as the Green New Deal, but she promised to focus on issues she believes are important for her constituents: ensuring Tennessee remains a Right to Work state, keeping it a state with no income tax and ridding the country of regulations put in place by the Obama administration.
“The focus is going to drill down to are you tilting toward freedom or are you tilting toward socialism,” she said. “That seems to be the definition of the political debate and where it is right now. I will tell you this, Tennesseans are ready to move on from the Mueller report.”
After the speech, Blackburn took questions from the audience members, one of whom raised concerns about the report’s findings and asked about how the Senate would ensure the 2020 election wasn’t impacted by Russian interference. Blackburn said the issue is one the Senate is taking seriously, looking at more stringent cybersecurity legislation, but she said Russia has been trying to meddle in U.S. elections for decades.
She repeatedly pointed to the cost and length of the report – 22 months, $30 million – and said Tennesseans were interested in the report but would rather focus on other issues that directly impact them.