It was late March, and most of the Tennessee congressional delegation was arrayed around President Donald Trump at his desk aboard Air Force One. They were flying back to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland from Memphis, where the president had gone to check out the Memphis Safe Task Force he had deployed.
“Well,” said the president, nodding to U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn and U.S. Rep. John Rose, R-Cookeville, “this is awkward. The two of you are running for governor. I don’t know why you are running for governor, Marsha. We need you in the Senate.” Trump looked at Blackburn. “Marsha, why are you running for governor when you could stay in the Senate?”
The above is paraphrased, based on the congressman’s telling.
We’ve wondered the same thing.
You can find photos of Trump on the websites of both gubernatorial campaigns. He’s not endorsing either because, as he told Rose — and likely Blackburn — you’ve been loyal to me.