Stockard on the Stump: Chattanooga lawmaker questions Turning Point USA partnership

Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, a Chattanooga Democrat, is raising questions about the transparency of a state partnership with Turning Point, USA. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

A Chattanooga lawmaker is questioning the state’s partnership with Turning Point USA, the ultra-conservative creation of the late Charlie Kirk, and the introduction of “Club America” into the state’s public high schools.

Democratic Rep. Yusuf Hakeem sent a letter Wednesday to Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds saying his concerns aren’t based on opposition to civic engagement or student participation, but the way the deal came about without transparency and the “broader implications” for public schools.

“It is troubling that this initiative was reportedly discussed and announced through private meetings, without prior public notice, stakeholder input or clear explanation of implementation standards,” Hakeem said in a letter to Reynolds. “Public schools are taxpayer-funded institutions, and decisions that impact students, families and educators should be made through transparent, inclusive and accountable processes.”

The Turning Point USA partnership was introduced by U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson in a closed announcement at the State Capitol with a video from Gov. Bill Lee, who a few weeks earlier said he didn’t know anything about it. It will enable students to set up their own clubs at school, purportedly to increase civil debate. Kirk’s calling card was to challenge students to prove him wrong when discussing issues.

Hakeem, though, said he’s concerned about how the partnership would align with the idea that public schools should remain “politically neutral environments,” since Turning Point USA is a partisan organization. In fact, President Donald Trump has called it a blueprint of sorts for his second term.
TPUSA Final Letter
Hakeem questioned whether groups with opposing political points of view would be given the same opportunity. Otherwise, the state risks undermining “trust” in its schools, he said in the letter. 

The lawmaker asked for clarification on the guidelines used to approve the partnership, as well as “safeguards” for ensuring neutrality and fairness, in addition to how transparency and accountability would be handled in the future.

“Tennessee’s public schools serve students of all backgrounds and beliefs. It is essential that educational policy decisions reflect fairness, openness and a commitment to democratic principles,” Hakeem said.

The lawmaker didn’t mention some of the demeaning things Kirk said publicly about Black men and women nor Kirk’s contention after six people were killed at The Covenant School in Nashville that school shootings were the price of having the Second Amendment. He was shot to death before an event at a Utah university where he was to debate students.

The state Department of Education declined to answer questions from the Lookout about Hakeem’s letter.

Asked about the matter, Johnson said this week he believes the partnership was formed with complete transparency.

“I don’t know why somebody would think that it wasn’t,” Johnson said. “We’re excited to encourage as many Turning Point chapters (Club America) in Tennessee high schools as possible. It’s a great organization.”

Johnson said similar groups with opposing views would be able to form, too. He denied saying the attorney general’s office would provide a legal defense for the group against anyone who challenges the partnership. 

“I said that there would be consequences if someone tries to thwart the formation of (a club) as long as they’re following all the school policies like any other civic group in a high school,” Johnson.

The prediction here, though, is that Johnson and others won’t be holding announcements for a partnership with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.

Not only did Kirk posthumously receive the Presidential Medal of Honor, the House honored him with a resolution Thursday. Democrats objected to the move, but House Republicans used a maneuver to cut off debate and go straight to a vote that was overwhelmingly in favor.

Wouldn’t Kirk have demanded a civil debate?

One more for the road

House Republican Caucus Chairman Jeremy Faison announced Thursday he will leave the Tennessee legislature after nearly 16 years.

Faison, who earlier in the day passed the resolution honoring Kirk, won’t seek re-election to the District 11 seat representing Cocke County and parts of Hamblen and Jefferson counties in East Tennessee.

Faison said in an X statement that when he entered the House in 2010, a friend told him there are only three ways out of the legislature: losing an election, dying or walking out with your head held high, then said, “Jeremy, I don’t think you want to do the first two.”

The East Tennessean called it one of the “greatest honors” of his life and said only his faith and family are more important.

“I have nothing but respect, admiration and love for each one of you (constituents) and the greatest amount of respect and love for this institution,” he said.

A staunch conservative by most measures, Faison, nevertheless, supports the softening of Tennessee’s anti-cannabis laws.

He previously pushed passage of medical marijuana bills and said recently the federal government never had a “sound justification for a naturally occurring plant” to be classified as a Schedule I drug, which made it comparable to heroin, LSD and Ecstasy. 

When Trump signed an order reclassifying marijuana, Faison said he hoped it encourages medical research “that either debunks what many sick Americans have testified to or provides the evidence and foundation showing that cannabis is safer than opioids and other man-altered substances.”

Faison would like to forget it, but he infamously tugged at the pants of a high school basketball referee who was calling his son’s ballgame in East Tennessee, drawing considerable ridicule in January 2022. He was ejected from the gym.

But he is leaving the legislature on his own accord.

Another defection

State Rep. Johnny Shaw of Bolivar said this week he will not run for re-election to another term, a move that could leave the House without one rural Democrat. 

At one time, rural Democrats from West Tennessee pretty much ruled the roost in the legislature. That control started slipping away in the early 2000s and culminated with the retirement of House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh of Covington.

His departure was followed by the one-term speakership of Republican Kent Williams who partnered with Democrats to ascend to the post instead of Jason Mumpower, who was expected to win the House election for the chamber’s top job. Instead, Mumpower got stuck with the comptroller’s job, which, truth be told, gives him about as much authority as the speaker.

Shaw, a preacher and 24-year House member who often quoted scriptures to back his stances, spoke vehemently against bills to make the Bible the state’s official book, saying its teachings should be kept in the heart and not in state politics.

Not in the hunt

Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn made a strong showing in the recent special election for the 7th Congressional District seat, pushing Republican Matt Van Epps to the limit. 

Behn cut the Republican margin of victory over the last two elections in half, whittling it down to less than 10 percentage points. Van Epps, though, picked up a Trump endorsement that pushed him to a win in the Republican primary and rode that to victory over Behn, capturing the seat mainly because of returns in Williamson County and the rural parts of the gerrymandered 7th District, which stretches from the Alabama line to Kentucky.

“This campaign proved something important: with real investment and serious organizing, so-called ‘red states’ can compete,” Behn said. “Political power does not have to come at the expense of our marginalized communities, and there is a growing coalition of Tennesseans who are sick of the chaos and cost of living.”

But Behn said the race came with a heavy emotional and mental cost as she endured a “daily deluge of violent rape and death threats” in addition to digital stalking and harassment of her immediate family. She said she feared for her safety throughout the campaign and would need months to recuperate.

The East Nashville Democrat said she will run again for the District 51 House seat and use $200,000 in her federal campaign account to start a new organization called “Unrigged,” which will back her efforts to run for higher office in a few years.

In other words, this ain’t over.

“Time keeps flowing like a river / To the sea, to the sea / ’Til it’s gone forever / Gone forever.” *

* Alan Parsons Project, “Time”