Former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen (shown above right) shocked political pundits and his Democratic friends when he announced last week that, if he were in the Senate now, he would vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
But an underground video produced by James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas exposes Bredesen’s Kavanaugh claim to be a calculated lie to boost his chances of defeating Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn., above left) in one of 2018’s most closely watched Senate races.
The winner will succeed the retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.).
Asked why Bredesen said he would support Kavanaugh, Bredesen field organizer Will Stewart told a Veritas interviewer — a person he took for a friendly journalist — “He wouldn’t, but he’s saying he would.”
Stewart continued, “Which, I don’t know if it makes it worse or better. No, it makes it better, but it’s still …”
Related: Trump Defends Kavanaugh, Boosts Blackburn in Tennessee
When a chuckling James Miller, who works on voter integrity for the Bredesen campaign, said, “But isn’t that gross … That’s like the way it has to go,” Stewart added, “We don’t — we don’t say that out of these walls. But here, of course, we talk about that. ‘Cause it’s so funny. The messaging is like, ‘Don’t talk about blue wave.'”
As the three individuals involved laughed heartily, Stewart continued, “We’re not running against Trump. All this sort of stuff. Even though that’s all why we’re all here. We can’t put it out there.”
Further on in the edited video made public by Veritas, Stewart told the interviewer, “Between you and me, once Phil actually gets into the Senate, he will be a good Democrat.”
“Between you and me, once Phil actually gets into the Senate, he will be a good Democrat.”
Asked why Bredesen would say he would support Kavanaugh knowing that to be untrue, Chandler Burdgess, who is identified only as a Bredesen staffer, responded, “Moderate Republicans.”
Then Bredesen field organizer Maria Amalla told the interviewer, “Yeah, because it’s like a political move, and so he’s trying to make up those points. Um, so, I don’t know, like, how it’s going to turn out.”
The balance of the video consists of O’Keefe’s commentary on the Bredesen campaign, including a TV spot in which the former governor tells viewers, “Hi, I’m Phil Bredesen. You know me. Nobody’s going to tell me how to vote.”
With Blackburn leading Bredesen by as much as 8 points in some polls less than a month out from the November 6 election, the Veritas video could be a serious problem for the Democrat, especially with evangelical Christian conservatives — who make up a large portion of the Volunteer State’s electorate.
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