Free Republic

GALLATIN, Tennessee — President Donald Trump completed his perfect record in U.S. Senate primaries this election cycle on Thursday night as his former U.S. ambassador to Japan, Bill Hagerty, defeated Dr. Manny Sethi in the GOP primary here for U.S. Senate.

With President Donald Trump pumping up supporters ahead of Thursday’s primary, former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Bill Hagerty fended off a late surge by orthopedic surgeon Manny Sethi to win the Republican nomination to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander. Trump, who first endorsed Hagerty last year, reminded voters in a July 31 tweet of his “Complete and Total Endorsement!” and called Hagerty an “outstanding man and one of the best Ambassadors ever (Japan).”

President Donald Trump offered one more virtual boost Wednesday on the eve of Election Day for Bill Hagerty,...The president showered Hagerty with praise, calling him a "stalwart defender of our conservative values” on topics ranging from gun rights to abortion opposition. He said Hagerty was one of Trump's “strongest supporters in 2016," praised his work on the presidential transition team..."He's a Trump conservative. He's a friend of mine. He’s a great guy," Trump said...Trump stopped short of mentioning Sethi at all.

...Leahy welcomed former conservative state Rep. Joe Carr in the studio. During the second hour, Carr explained his recent op-ed on why he did not endorse Bill Hagerty and instead endorsed Manny Sethi. He also discussed the e-verify law that had been implemented in the state of Tennessee during his time in the General Assembly and how that too was opposed by Hagerty. Leahy: In the studio with me is our good friend former state representative Joe Carr. Good morning Joe. Carr: Yeehaw. Good morning Michael. Leahy: So on Monday you wrote an op-ed. A commentary. You have endorsed Manny...

Who does Bill Hagerty put first – the average Tennessee taxpayer or his big dollar cronies? Two examples immediately come to mind – TNInvestco and the Nashville Soccer stadium. The failed TNInvestco initiative was launched in 2009, by the Bredesen administration. The plan was intended to spur the growth of start-up companies and with it, jobs. A deal was cut with private insurance companies where the state would “sell” $200 million dollars in future tax credits for $150 million dollars cash. Then ten firms managing venture capital funds, were selected by the state to invest the cash in start-up companies....

GOP candidate blames wife, sleepwalking for donation to far-left Dem A Republican Senate candidate blamed his wife and sleepwalking for a past donation to a far-left Democrat as he woos conservative voters in Tennessee. Orthopedic surgeon Manny Sethi, who is running to replace retiring senator Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.), faced criticism in July for a campaign contribution he made to former Democratic congressman Tom Perriello. Sethi gave $50 to Perriello's campaign in April 2008, prompting an advertisement from primary opponent and former ambassador to Japan Bill Hagerty. While Sethi has dismissed the attack as "baseless," his campaign has offered contradictory...

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee – Sen. Rand Paul, who was in Knoxville Saturday for a town hall event in support of Dr. Manny Sethi for U.S. Senate, said he has never seen a more sincere opponent of Obamacare. “I guess that’s what sort of bothers me is that people would lie about that,” said Paul. “Obamacare has really messed up healthcare. I think it’s been a disaster for the country.” Paul’s comments were in response to The Tennessee Star’s question about when he decided to support Sethi when the pair met with the press after the more formal event. Paul’s response was...

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has scheduled a return trip to Tennessee Monday to appear alongside U.S. Senate candidate Manny Sethi. Members of Sethi’s campaign said in an emailed press release Saturday that the pair will appear in Jackson and then Cordova. As reported last month, Cruz endorsed Sethi. Sethi and Bill Hagerty are competing against one another in Thursday’s Republican primary to replace the retiring U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander. Sethi and Cruz will first appear at a town hall meeting from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. central time on Monday at Volunteer International, 626 Airways Blvd. in Jackson, the...

Dr. Manny Sethi, a candidate for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate in Tennessee, decided to surround himself with Never Trumpers, including his campaign manager who believes President Donald Trump is a “divisive, short-fingered vulgarian.” Sethi has presented himself as a “conservative outsider” in the race against the Trump-backed Bill Hagerty, but all the people he has brought into every senior role in his campaign are devout Never Trump political consultants.

So much for Southern hospitality. This fall, Tennessee will say goodbye to retiring Sen. Lamar Alexander, one of the last of the genteel Republican moderates in the chamber. And the race to replace him has turned into perhaps the ugliest Republican primary in the country — with spurious super PAC attacks, Mitt Romney being invoked as a slur and President Donald Trump lining up on opposite sides as Sen. Ted Cruz.

(CNN) President Donald Trump's endorsed candidate in the US Senate race in Tennessee has suddenly found himself in an increasingly competitive primary fight that has divided top Republicans and prompted anger over one GOP senator's tactics. Bill Hagerty was expected to coast to his party's nomination after the President endorsed him a year ago. But with less than two weeks to go before the Republican primary election, Trump's former US ambassador to Japan is facing a fierce challenge marked by a late infusion of ad spending, high-profile endorsements and rallies crisscrossing the state. Dr. Manny Sethi and Hagerty traded attacks...

Today’s show of Hagpocrisy used to try and smear Dr. Manny and manipulate voters is simply outrageous. But it also shows voters that Hagerty is a hypocrite, willing to say and do anything so he can join his Establishment cronies in the U.S. Senate. First the Tennessee Establishment empire warned Dr. Manny not to even consider running. We know “they” had already made their pick and “they” wanted another Establishment guy to ascend to Lamar’s seat. Why else would “they” have made multiple calls to Dr. Manny telling him not to run? Even Mitch McConnell’s National Republican Senatorial Committee called...

NASHVILLE — Nashville trauma surgeon Manny Sethi announced Monday he is running for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination to replace retiring Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. Sethi, 41, made the announcement as former Gov. Bill Haslam continues weighing a bid for the 2020 GOP nomination. The physician is playing up his status as a "conservative outsider." "I am not a politician," Sethi said in an announcement video. "I'm a surgeon, an outsider. I'm a conservative and I support President Trump. Above all, I am grateful to God for a story that could have only have happened right here in Tennessee....

President Trump may be ready to intensify his antagonism of Muslims. Reports suggest that the White House is considering an executive order directing the State Department to assess whether the Muslim Brotherhood should be designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Some Republicans, including Trump’s erstwhile rival Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), have been pushing for this for a long time, and it will have ramifications far beyond the Middle East, where the group primarily operates. The result is likely to be intimidation, harassment and smears of Muslim and Arab groups here in the United States. The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt...

The University of Houston's Student Government Vice President has been sanctioned following a social media controversy. Vice President Rohini Sethi's five sanctions include a 50-day suspension beginning Aug. 1, mandatory attendance of the Libra Project diversity workshop, mandatory attendance of three cultural events per month, a reflection letter and a public presentation in the Senate Meeting on Sep. 28. The Student Government President Shane Smith was given a one-time power to determine Sethi's suspension by the Student Senate. It was passed with 13 votes of approval, two against and one abstaining. He released the letter below. Between the Senate Meeting...