Politics & Government
Nashville Mayor Shades Trump During MLK Day Event
Nashville Mayor Megan Barry alluded to President Trump's "bigger button," the alleged payoff to a porn star and "racism" at an event Monday.
NASHVILLE, TN -- Without mentioning the president by name, Metro Nashville Mayor Megan Barry threw shade at Donald Trump during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day appearance at a Jefferson Street church, alluding to his button braggadocio, the alleged hush money paid to an adult-film star and what she called "a whole lot of racism."
"You know this week, we went from whose button is bigger to a payoff," Barry told a crowd of 300 at the Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church, according to The Tennessean. "And in between that, there was a whole lot of racism."
Barry's timeline wasn't exactly right. The president's taunting tweet about his larger, more reliable nuclear button came Jan. 2 and 10 days later, the Wall Street Journal broke the story of the alleged $130,000 payoff to porn star Stormy Daniels, with whom Trump reportedly had consensual sex in 2006.
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Barry's "racism" accusation likely alludes to comments Trump allegedly made during a Jan. 11 Oval Office meeting with top lawmakers in which questioned the utility of having immigrants from "s---hole countries."
Though officially Nashville's mayoral elections are non-partisan, it's no secret that Barry is a Democrat. She openly supported Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign and is frequently mentioned as a potential successor to U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper when and if he ever retires.
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Monday's comments largely follow the playbook for criticizing Trump that Barry has used since his election, with subtle (and not-so-subtle) jabs in statements that rarely, if ever, mention the president by name.
The mayor did strike a bit of conciliatory tone once, however, in the days after Trump's election win, when she took a surprise phone call from the then-President-elect, who rang former United Nations ambassador and Atlanta mayor Andrew Young while Young was chatting with Barry and The Tennessean. Young handed the phone to Barry, who spoke to Trump about the importance of transportation funding.
Image via the Office of the Mayor
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