Gov. Bill Lee addressing members of the Tennessee National Guard while on a trip to the Texas-Mexico border in July 2021. (Photo: tn.gov)
The Stump’s roving reporter owes an apology to Gov. Bill Lee — well, a tiny one anyway.
At the end of a Wednesday press conference, the reporter tried to ask one more question, or at least follow up on another reporter’s question about the potential for using the National Guard to round up immigrants. Lee tossed that guy a nice word salad, then refused to answer the second time, saying if he responded, he would have to start over again, which he couldn’t do because he was running late for another meeting.
To which the Stump reporter responded that he didn’t answer the other reporter’s question the first time, so why not give it another go? To no avail.
But on further review, Lee said everything we need to know.
First, he said his and President-elect Trump’s team spoke before the election, not about “specific” policies but to let them know Tennessee wants “input on policy.” He said they haven’t discussed the deportation of immigrants yet, but it is a key part of Trump’s campaign platform and a move that could require governors to deploy National Guard troops to remove up to 18 million people from the country. (That’s the number Trump has used.)