Sen. Marsha Blackburn refuses to debate other candidates for governor before the November election, piling on to her absence from the public throughout her campaign and spurring criticism from her opponents.
After declining to debate her Republican opponents in the primary, Blackburn has refused for weeks to answer whether she would debate in the general election. On Thursday, she told WSMV she would not, accusing Democratic nominee Jerri Green of being a socialist.
“I am not going to give air to a socialist candidate who is running on trying to destroy the agenda of Tennessee, destroy the United States, defund the police, uh, no. Uh-uh,” Blackburn said. “Our message is clear: this is a campaign about contrast.”
Blackburn’s comments about Green — who is not a socialist — are consistent with the senator’s efforts to nationalize the race by focusing on culture war issues and warning Republicans of the looming threats of socialism and communism, despite neither political movement having a foothold in Tennessee and there being no socialists on the ballot.