All of Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District Republican front-runners support a proposed action by President Trump to deploy National Guard troops in Memphis and Chicago.
Last month, the president deployed the guard in Washington, D.C. to combat crime.
On Sept. 1, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn said that she supports deploying the guard in Memphis to “restore law and order in lawless cities across America." And District 5 U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles has called for the guard to deploy to both Memphis and Nashville.
Gov. Bill Lee told reporters last week that he is not planning on deploying the guard to Memphis and has not discussed the option with Trump, citing “significant investments” in state law enforcement per the Tennessee Lookout. Now this week, he's changed his tune, telling reporters nothing is off the table.
The question was posed to the District 7 candidates during a Sept. 2 forum hosted by the Republican Women of Williamson County at the John P. Holt Brentwood Library and moderated by Michael Patrick Leahy, editor-in-chief of conservative news outlet The Tennessee Star.
District 69 state Rep. Jody Barrett (R-Dickson) said that he would support the deployment “if it's constitutionally sound.”
“Home rule exists in that district only, it doesn't necessarily exist in Chicago or Memphis,” Barrett said. “That's not to say that it's not necessary, because it's very clear that the Democratic leadership in both of those communities are not doing their job. They're not protecting their citizens, they're not funding their police, they're not providing them with the equipment and the manpower that they need in order to keep their community safe, and so if it's necessary for the federal government to step in, if the state and the local government are not going to do their job to protect their people.”
District 61 state Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood) argued that the crime rates in both cities “meet the standards required for the invocation of the Insurrection Act of 1807,” which gives the president broad powers to use U.S. military force domestically.
“I give kudos to President Trump to looking beyond just his role as a commander in chief and looking at D.C., looking at Memphis, looking at Chicago and doing something about it.”
Matt Van Epps, a current Lt. Col. in the Tennessee National Guard, argued that the “partnership between the state and federal and local law enforcement is critical to addressing these terrible crime rates.”
District 65 state Rep. Lee Reeves (R-Franklin) pushed back against critics of Trump’s use of the military in American streets, saying “Democrats have consistently said that you can't do this and you cannot do that, and President Trump is proving them wrong in DC.”
Three other GOP candidates, retired Metro Nashville Police Det. Joe Leurs, pardoned insurrectionist Stewart Parks, and former Tennessee state senate staffer Tres Wittum, who unsuccessfully ran as a Republican in Tennessee's 5th Congressional District race in 2022, also all support Trump’s efforts.
“That's our nation's capital. It should be our crown jewel,” Parks said. “There should never, ever be a crime taking place in DC and especially Memphis. I mean, we're a Republican dominated state, so I support Trump coming to Memphis to clean it up.”
Parks pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after unlawfully entering the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, and was also charged with stealing a handheld metal detector prior to his stint in federal prison and subsequent pardon.
“This is what sanctuary policies get you,” Leurs said. “This is what is happening in Memphis, because they're allowing crime to run rampant. What President Trump is doing is letting police officers do their job.”
While Wittum said that crime in Memphis and Nashville are a “big problem” and signaled his general support for Trump’s actions, he also proposed more investment into local law enforcement. He also warned that the potential for domestic military force could one day be wielded by Democrats.
“What I don't want to have happen is these types of policies become normal when they start sending the National Guard in [for other politically-motivated issues,]” Wittum said.
Four other GOP candidates, Montgomery County Commissioner Jason Knight, Stuart Cooper, Mason Foley, and Adolph Agbéko Dagan, were not present.
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