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Tuesday, November 10, 2026Nov 10

Greeson: Big-time Berke embraces national stage over local leadership

Jay Greeson / Times Free Press staff file photo
Jay Greeson / Times Free Press staff file photo Jay Greeson / Times Free Press staff file photo

So Andy Berke became CNN’s Southern Democrat go-to Tuesday night.

Yes, our Chattanooga mayor, who has very little on his seven-plus-year resumé about which to brag, was interviewed Tuesday night by CNN’s Don Lemon about his decision to not reopen Chattanooga, or as he put it in a tweet, “keeping Chattanoogans safe.”

OK. But rather than answer questions from reporters from this newspaper and local TV stations about his decision, Berke chose to speak nationally on a platform apparently better aligned with his personal or political goals.

I didn’t see the interview; I don’t watch CNN (and before you get your left-leaning heels dug in, I don’t watch Fox News, either).

WRCB TV-Channel 3 News Director Callie Starnes tweeted at the mayor that the station’s invitation for him to answer viewers’ questions stands and is indefinitely open.