KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Vice President Mike Pence on Friday told a crowd of conservatives in Tennessee that a win by Democrat Phil Bredesen would help the U.S. Senate become the center of the Democratic resistance.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence on Friday told a crowd of conservatives in Tennessee that a win by Democrat Phil Bredesen would help the U.S. Senate become the center of the Democratic resistance.
In the White House's latest foray into the tight Tennessee contest, Pence contended that Bredesen would align with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as Democrats seek to upend a slim Senate Republican majority. The vice president directed attendees to back Bredesen's opponent, Republican Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, calling her one of the strongest, most principled conservatives he's met.
Pence and President Donald Trump have headlined previous Tennessee events with Blackburn, as the GOP tries to boost her candidacy and undercut Bredesen's message of political independence and continued popularity as a red-state Democrat who served as governor.
Pence afterward headed to a Blackburn fundraiser Friday, also in Knoxville.
"I know Marsha is going to stand with our president and this administration, on the agenda that we're delivering for the American people, just like she's done in the House of Representatives," Pence told attendees at the American Conservative Union's CPAC 365 Friday. "The truth is, Phil Bredesen's first vote in the United States Senate would be to make Chuck Schumer Senate majority leader. Phil Bredesen, if he becomes your senator, will actually help the United States Senate be turned into the center of the Democratic resistance. And I know Tennessee is not going to let that happen."
Among his criticisms, Pence chided Bredesen for at one point describing Trump's tax cuts as "crumbs" for
