NASHVILLE - U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, swooped into Tennessee on Sunday for a rally with Republican Senate hopeful Marsha Blackburn, an event interrupted repeatedly by a group of activists who were later hauled away by security, attendees or police out of the Nashville venue.
Interruptions from the seven demonstrators began as state Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden sought to introduce U.S. Rep. Blackburn, a staunch conservative and sometimes GOP firebrand who is squaring off with former Democratic governor Phil Bredesen in a close campaign that's generated national attention.
As several demonstrators began shouting, the Republican throng at country music artist Ray Stevens' CabaRay Showroom chanted back with "USA, USA, USA" in an effort to drown out the protesters.
Protesters were escorted, dragged or carried out.
When Blackburn asked for a moment of silence in memory of 11 people killed Saturday in a Pittsburgh synagogue by a gunman shouting anti-Semitic slurs, one woman shouted "Marsha Blackburn is a white supremacist!"
As the woman was ejected, Blackburn said, "How despicable that you cannot even have a moment of silence."
Among the protesters was Justin Jones, a student activist who has helped lead any number of protests at the Republican-controlled state legislature. He was brought to the ground by a police officer.
Blackburn later issued a statement denouncing what she called a "liberal angry mob" she said "made it clear they are active in Tennessee and will stop at nothing to disrupt civil political discourse."
Blackburn sought to lay blame on Bredesen, charging "Phil Bredesen is their leader, and their behavior is despicable."
On Saturday night, Bredesen had issued a call to cool the heated rhetoric across the country in the wake of the mass shooting at the synagogue as well as homemade pipe bombs allegedly mailed by a Florida man to former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton as well as other nationally known Democrats.
"[I]t really is time to turn the volume down a little bit on this rhetoric, I think, on all sides," Bredesen said. "And I hope we can do that. It just encourages crazy people to act in a crazy fashion."
During the midterm elections, Trump has worked to galvanize his supporters, stoking issues such as illegal immigration and attacking top Democrats and major Democratic financial donors, several of whom have been reported as recipients of the bombs, none of which went off.
Bredesen spokeswoman Alyssa Hansen said in a statement following the eruptions at Blackburn's Sunday event that "like Governor Bredesen said, it is time to turn down the partisan rhetoric and start acting as Americans and Tennesseans first and partisans second.
But Hansen said Bredesen is facing similar treatment on the campaign trail leading to the Nov. 6 election.
"This is happening from both sides - it's a shame that people disrupted Congresswoman Blackburn's event and it is a shame that Congresswoman Blackburn's campaign staffers have been proudly screaming at 37 of Governor Bredesen's events. This is not what this election is about and it is time to get back to bringing attention to fixing problems for the people of Tennessee."
Mark Brown, a spokesman for state Democrats' coordinated campaign, said the protesters "are not connected to the Tennessee Democratic Party."
Earlier, Graham castigated Senate Democrats and others for their tactics to derail President Donald Trump's U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh who ultimately was narrowly confirmed in the chamber where Republicans have 51 votes and Democrats 49.
"This is not about an issue. This is about an attitude. This is about a mob versus the rule of law," Graham charged. "The only way for it to stop is for [Democrats] to lose. For this to stop, they got to feel it at the ballot box."
Praising Blackburn as a "reliable conservative," Graham questioned independent expenditures made by an outside group with ties to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in support of Bredesen.
During the course of the campaign to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, Bredesen has said he would serve as a pragmatic moderate and work to overcome differences with Trump as well as Republicans with a middle of the road approach.
Hitting that, Graham asked, "Do you think Chuck Schumer is investing $12 million on you if you're not going to be for them."
Outside groups aligned with Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have spent huge amounts in the Tennessee race as well.
Early voting in the Nov. 6 election continues through Thursday.
Contact staff writer Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow him on Twitter @AndySher1.