Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Phil Bredesen says he is disappointed by his opponent’s repeated mentions of his past donations to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign during a debate Wednesday night.
Bredesen made a stop in the Tri-Cities Thursday, one day after his debate with Republican Marsha Blackburn in Knoxville.
News Channel 11’s Josh Smith asked the former governor about the debate and Blackburn bringing up his past campaign donations.
“I was a little disappointed in that one,” Bredesen said. “I don’t know how many times Hillary Clinton got mentioned although she’s not a candidate in this race anywhere. I think we did not get into the issues in the way that we might have.”
Does he regret donating to Clinton’s campaign?
“No,” Bredesen said. “I mean, actually, the reason I gave money to the campaign was Tim Kaine is a personal friend of mine…I wanted to support him.”
Clinton picked Kaine as her running mate.
Garren Shipley, an RNC spokesman, issued this statement regarding Bredesen’s roundtable meeting held Thursday:
“If Phil Bredesen had his way, President Trump’s tax cuts that have allowed so many businesses to create jobs in the Tri-Cities wouldn’t have happened. Tennesseans wouldn’t have an average of $1,377 more in their pocketbooks. Phil Bredesen is wrong on taxes, wrong on business, and wrong for Tennessee.”
— Garren Shipley, RNC spokesman
You can watch the entirety of Wednesday night’s debate by clicking here.