Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. –  host Leahy welcomed Dr. Carol Swain to the studio.

At the end of the second hour, Swain took listener calls regarding her recent endorsement of Bill Hagerty. She explained her choice by citing the importance of the candidate’s history and record of service.

Leahy: Carol Swain, all-star panelist, and good friend is in the studio. She has endorsed Bill Hagerty for the Senate Republican primary. It has lit up the phones. Rob in Nashville wants to comment on this. Good morning Rob.

Caller Rob: I don’t like Hagerty at all and I’m an openly gay Christian conservative. I believe I have a unique perspective he will not live down begging and the moment he gets in its all over. Plus with Sethi, being in the medical profession and how healthcare is such a huge thing right now, we need someone with his hands on actual experience to be able to help guide proper legislation through the Senate.

Leahy: Ok.

Swain: First of all, I don’t know why the caller needed to indicate his sexual preference. I’m not interested in that and I don’t think most other people are. And when it comes to Sethi I try to look for the record of the candidates. And so he’s running as a Christian conservative.

I’m being told he’s the most conservative candidate in the race. All I can tell you is that I have been on the front lines of fighting conservative battles ever since I moved to Tennessee. Whether it was helping the legislature on issues like Yes On One. Fighting for Christian groups. Getting the heat for being one of the early people to warn about radical Islam.

And calling out Black Lives Matter back in 2016. Calling them out as a Marxist group. During all that time that I was fighting those battles, I did not see Manny Sethi. I did not hear from him. And at Vanderbilt, it would have mattered if Christians had stood up and if more people would have stood up for the students. And it’s not about me, its about other people. So, that’s my response. And everyone says they are going to go to Washington and get rid of Obamacare and reform healthcare but they don’t.

Leahy: Bill in Hendersonville, what’s your comment for Carol.

Caller Bill: Hey Michael.

Leahy: Hey Bill.

Bill: Thank you so much, buddy. You are the last conservative voice in the morning in this city and I really appreciate you and I appreciate Miss Swain.

Leahy: Bill, by the way, the check is in the mail. So thank you for that comment.

(Laughter)

Bill: I’m always here and I may not agree especially on the second caller. What I wanted to say was I don’t think Trump should endorse anybody before the election. I don’t think anybody ought to do that. I want to get to the main point that you never had mentioned and I think is glaring omission is that he was Mitt Romney’s campaign manager. Now I realize he was the nominee at that time and that was a time. But I can’t stand the guy and my disgust for him is so visceral.

Swain: You can’t stand Mitt?

Bill: Exactly.

Swain: A lot of us feel absolutely the same way and Mitt has gotten worse and worse over the years.

Bill: He was his campaign manager. Excuse me for interrupting.

Leahy: Bill, just as a point of fact, Bill Hagerty was not his campaign manager. He helped raise money for him in 2012 when he was the Republican nominee.

Swain: There are so many lies out there. And all of us voted for the Republican nominee so you have to look at what the feel was at the time.

Bill: Can I say one more thing? Real quickly. Excuse me for interrupting. Manny is hitting illegal immigration and it is not some side issue. That is the main issue besides this Black Lives Matter treachery. This craziness about taking away cops and stuff like that. I don’t know how anybody could win anything with that in America unless America has gone farther than I thought.

I voted for Manny and I want fresh and somebody new. I don’t want another Lamar Alexander. But I was for Sessions too. Here’s one thing I want to say. It makes Trump look good with his record of endorsing people and winning so that’s the only reason I would. I love Trump. Go Trump! America is in the balance. We’re going to lose America after this election if these liars get in. Thank you, Michael.

Leahy: Bill, thanks for your comment. Carol, I think he’s got a clear point of view.

Swain: He certainly does. And I think that a lot of the attacks on Bill Hagerty has been guilt by association.

Leahy: John in Nashville wants to weigh in. John, you are on with Carol Swain and we are talking about her controversial endorsement of Bill Hagerty that is lighting up the phones. I haven’t even got to the comments on our website at tennesseestar.com about it. John welcome.

Caller John: Thank you. And thank you Miss Carol for your fight for the conservative message all across America. I have been sharing your videos with as many people as I can. And thank you for your clarity on your position on the candidates. I think that will be helpful for many to choose from.

What was it about the conservative or the liberal message that really triggered you to get in the fight many years ago? And I don’t know much about your previous history before you got into the conservative fight. I don’t know if you were a liberal. What is it about the message that triggered it for you? And what is it about those messages that are preventing liberals and center people from really moving to conservatism?

Swain: I can tell you that I was a Democrat up until probably around 2000 I became an Independent and I stopped voting for Democrats but I was not a Republican until 2009. After I had my Christian conversion experience I became increasingly conservative and at some point, I realized that I could not support candidates that stood for policies and positions that were antibiblical.

And so my faith guides everything that I do. And I have noticed again and again candidates that say that they are Christian. To win in the South you have to say that you are a Christian and all you have to say is Jesus to get the vote of a lot of people. And they don’t use critical thinking skills a lot of times. It’s very important to look at candidates and to look at their records and they’ve never been in office it’s a big gamble.

Leahy: John, thank you so much for your call. The phone lines are lighting up. Everybody wants to talk to Carol Swain. We’ll get to some of the comments from our readers. Some of them are really interesting Carol.

Published on – The Tennessee Star