Tucker Carlson Draws Hundreds to Leiper’s Fork 917 Society Fundraiser

Right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson drew hundreds of Republicans to The 917 Society’s fourth annual fundraiser at Glory Train Station in Leiper's Fork on Friday night for a sold out “celebration of God and country.”

The event saw the attendance of dozens of prominent elected Republican officials and leaders including Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Reps. Andy Ogles and John Rose, and Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, as well as numerous state senators and representatives, such as Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, who performed as part of his band, Jack Johnson and The Austin Brothers.

The 917 Society is a non-profit organization that is “dedicated to preserving our Constitution and fostering a love for our country among our youth,” with a goal to “reach 2,000,000 students across the nation” in part by providing them with copies of the U.S. Constitution.

While the organization calls itself a “group of nonpartisan volunteers,” the event was an overtly Republican affair, from the makeup of attendees, to the auctioning of a Glock 19 pistol engraved with President Donald Trump’s mugshot. Joni Bryan, 917 Society Founder and Director from Middle Tennessee, gave a speech about the organization’s goals and touted the need for conservative reforms over the next two years ahead of midterm elections.

“Our dream is to be able to eventually have an office, to eventually have our own warehouse, to eventually be able to have staff that we pay, to eventually be able to expand, because we have a potential of 5 million kids each year we can reach and we need to reach them,” Bryan said.

Carlson, formerly of Fox News, spoke at length about a variety of topics from the Constitution to what he argued was the lost glory of California, to his views on cryptocurrencies and freedom, arguing a point about the decline of freedom in two of America’s oldest allies – Canada and the United Kingdom.

“Freedom is rooted in a very simple concept, which is that each person is created by God, not as a group, not as a community, whatever, that is my least favorite term ever. It's a dehumanizing term. There's no such thing as a community, actually. There are individuals, community is a way that politicians dehumanize us,” Carlson said.

Carlson spoke to the crowd days after declaring that he’s “definitely more sympathetic to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin than [Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy,” and just one year after Carlson’s widely-criticized interview with Putin.

Putin’s 20-year presidency – and 24 years of effective power – has included well documented imprisonments and killings of journalists, political and human rights activists and opposition leaders. Blackburn has previously called Russia a part of the “new Axis of Evil.” 

Despite Carlson’s apparent affinity with the Russian state, he spent part of his Friday night speech defending the first amendment and sending a warning to Republicans.

“I see some Republicans now falling for the oldest trap in recorded history, which is, once you have power, you start mimicking the worst qualities of the people you took power from,” Carlson said. “So I would just remind every Republican, and particularly people holding elected office, that your first duty, not simply as an office holder, but as an American and as a child of God, is to protect, at all costs, the right of American citizens to say what they think, period, and not everybody shares that view.”