Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed TN (R) U.S. Senate candidate Bill Hagerty to the newsmakers line.

During the third hour, Hagerty weighed in on the Senate’s upcoming vote to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett next week and was disturbed by the idea of court-packing as proposed by Chuck Schumer and the Democrats. He added that if he is elected to the U.S. Senate, he will go to Washington as a businessman that will help turn the economy around and work hard for the people of Tennessee.

Leahy: With us on the newsmaker line is former Ambassador to Japan and Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate Bill Haggerty. Good morning Bill.

Hagerty: Good morning. Great to be with both of you.

Leahy: It’s always great to have you on.

Swain: Yes Bill. It’s great having you on. And pretty soon it’s going to be a Senator Hagerty.

Hagerty: Well, listen, we’re not taking anything for granted. But in about 12 more days our hope and our prayers are that that’s exactly the way things will be. Thank you to all your listeners for their help and support. But everybody needs to get out and vote.

Leahy: Now a bill, today the Senate Judiciary Committee is convening for the purpose of voting to move the Supreme Court nomination of Amy Coney Barrett on to the Senate floor. I’ve heard reports that the 11 Democratic members of this 24-member panel are going to boycott the vote. Have you followed that at all?

Hagerty: I’ve heard exactly the same thing. And it’s another stunt. They’ve done everything they can to derail this process. But we’re going to keep moving forward. I mean, I think America has fallen in love with Judge Barrett. She has proven herself to be incredibly competent. She will be a jurist that actually interprets the Constitution.

Not an activist that makes it up like the Democrats would like to see and she’s a wonderful person as well. A great mother and a great citizen and a great patriot. So I think that she will move through with unanimous Republican votes. And this stuff by the Democrats is just another attempt to discredit both her and the Supreme Court.

Leahy: I think if this stunt goes through as they claim they’re going to, these are my words, not yours. You’ve got on this committee, you know crazy Mazie Hirono from Oahu, Hawaii. I don’t know how the people from Hawaii keep electing her. But the Democrats seem to be just focused on political theater and stunts. My view is it’s going to backfire on them. What are your thoughts?

Hagerty: (Chuckles) I was going to say the same thing, Mike. I think you’re exactly right. The majority of America wants to see her confirmed and they’re going to see right through this stunt for what it is. It’s cheap politics. It’s cheap political theater. And you know just like with Brett Kavanaugh, those Democrats have voted against Kavanaugh paid the price on Election Day and I think the senators that do this, the Democrats that pull this stunt, may pay the price at the polls.

Leahy: You said something very important there about how America feels about Judge Barrett. I compared that to sort of what happened with Judge Barrett’s hearing with now-Justice Kavanaugh’s. At the beginning when the name was announced they were both about plus 7 in the polls in terms of you know favoring or not favoring. After all that onslaught against Brett Kavanaugh, it was down to like negative three in the polls for him. But with Amy Coney Barrett the latest poll showed that she’s plus 22 and a majority of Americans not only want her confirmed but want her confirmed before the election.

Hagerty: Yes. Yes indeed and I think she did a spectacular job during the hearings. Many Americans were tuned in and they saw her sit there with her composure intact as she was under attack with no notes and coming right back at these questions, and she really proved herself to be an intelligent upright and a highly competent individual who again is going to interpret the Constitution as it was written. That is what Americans want.

I think people are very scared about what the Democrats are promising to do. And you know, Joe Biden has said he’s going to wait to see about this. But the threat is the following they are going to “pack the court.” And I’m sure you’ve talked about it, but they’ve threatened to add four new justices all appointed by Biden. These justices will be activists. They’ll be partisans. They will legislate from the bench.

They’ll make the court into something that the Constitution never intended, a super legislative body. Think about it? These folks have a lifetime appointment. They’re unaccountable to the voters. And they will be able to use the court as a backdoor to impose their little policies on all of us. So it really is terribly concerning when you think about putting activist judges on the bench that will rubber-stamp socialism if they get their chance.

Swain: Well, that’s definitely the case. We know that and they’ve been very clear about their agenda. And when I think about Amy Coney Barrett, she didn’t need notes because when you’re not engaged in deception and you’re genuine, you don’t have to look at your notes to figure out what you think.

Hagerty: Amen. I like that Carol.

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