Editor’s notebook: Tennessee governor’s lack of political spine apparent in treatment of Memphis

Weeks after saying he had no plans to send National Guard troops to Memphis, Lee said he had been in communication with the Trump administration for months about the issue. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

The first time I visited Memphis was in July 1978, and my family had taken a weekend trip so my older brother could tour the college then called Southwestern at Memphis, now Rhodes College. 

At 14, I’d been few places outside my hometown and was excited for the opportunity to see a new city. But as it turned out, I didn’t see much. My chief memories of the trip are of military vehicles rolling down nearly empty streets as we headed back to our motel before the enforced curfew set in.

Mayor Wyeth Chandler declared a civil emergency and called for support from the Tennessee National Guard amid a strike by members of the firefighters union. In the wake of the walkout, fires were set throughout the city and more than 300 buildings burned. 

At the time, fire department Director Robert Walker said, “The scars will be there for many years,” and the scars of which he spoke were likely not just physical: the presence of troops is jarring to Americans, unused as we are to seeing armed members of the military walking around our cities.

But here we are again. Friday, Gov. Bill Lee acknowledged that he has for months been in “constant communication with the Trump Administration to develop a multi-phased, strategic plan to combat crime in Memphis.” 

Tennessee governor not ready to deploy troops to Memphis

What’s particularly interesting about Lee’s statement is that just weeks earlier — on Aug. 26 — he told more than a dozen journalists at a press conference that he had just that day received a report showing a decline in Memphis crime of 15% and that he had no plans to send military troops to the Bluff City. 

“We’ve had no conversations with the president or his team about National Guard in Memphis. We have targeted our efforts and our communications with those federal agencies. I even spoke this morning with an FBI official about our efforts in Memphis and Shelby County and how they’re working. So that’s where we are today,” Lee said.

I’ve often taken Lee to task for hypocrisy, such as his advocacy for adoption while also signing into law a measure that prohibits same sex-couples from pursuing adoption. After a family friend was killed during a mass shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School, he called a special legislative session purportedly dedicated to creating gun safety measures but failed to appear at the legislature even one time during the session. His absence and lackadaisical approach made clear he had no interest in pushing any measures that could be construed as anti-gun, including so-called red flag laws. 

But his recent behavior isn’t simply hypocritical: it’s outright dishonest. 

Was Lee lying in August when he said he’d had no conversations with the Trump administration about deploying the National Guard, or was he lying Friday when he said he’s been communicating with the administration for months?

The Lookout has filed public records requests for emails between Lee, his office and the Trump administration, but I think it’s likely we won’t get a definitive answer. Lee may have the political spine of a boiled shrimp, but he’s a master of deflection, calmly turning away tough questions by reporters in what has become a near daily disappointment. 

A sincere effort or pandering to Trump?

It’s true, Memphis does top several lists of cities with high crime rates, but this is nothing new: the city has ranked high for crime for years. But in addition to Lee’s admission that crime is on the wane, statistics from the Memphis Police Department show crime is down by more than 22% in 2025 from 2024 — the MPD says it’s at a 25-year low. 

In August, a story in Axios reported that crime, including murders, is lower nationally than it has been since Barack Obama was president.

As I read the Axios story I noted how many of the states posting high crime rates are in states with lax gun laws, including Tennessee. Multiple organizations that track gun violence, including the Giffords Law Center and Everytown, show a correlation between a lack of safe gun laws and deaths by gun violence. 

Gov. Lee to work with Trump administration to deploy National Guard in Memphis

If Lee is serious about addressing crime, a good start would be to take up some — any — legislation aimed at making Tennessee less of the Wild West. He could also ensure the state continues to provide funding for domestic violence shelters, like the Family Safety Center of Memphis and Shelby County, which is among the victim-serving agencies left on ice when the state cut funds.  

And he could encourage the state’s Republican lawmakers to cease targeting Memphis, as they did when House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally threatened to withhold tax revenue from the city in 2024 if voters passed referendums on gun control measures.

Imagine the political calculation it takes to try to prevent Memphis officials from making their city safer, then use Trump to call in troops to crack down on crime.

With his final term in office ending in little more than a year, this is the time for him to swing for the fences and to use whatever political capital he has garnered since his election eight years ago. 

But Lee seems more inclined to pander to the interests of President Donald Trump, who in 2024 called Lee a RINO — Republican in name only — and is pushing for military forces to be stationed in mostly cities with Democratic mayors, like Memphis. 

Crime may, indeed, decrease during the National Guard presence — at least for as long as soldiers are standing on street corners. But that’s not a permanent fix, and it’s sure to leave more scars of the psychic and emotional kind on Memphians. 

As for Lee, who has long been thought to have aspirations for higher office, he will leave a legacy in Tennessee of lost opportunities, cravenly caving in for Trump’s approval and a reputation as a first-class hypocrite.