When Tennessee leaders brand tax-funded vouchers as ‘Trump’s school choice,’ it’s deliberate deception. True choice means personal agency, not government subsidies. Conflating the two gaslights voters and betrays grassroots conservatives.
When the American Federation for Children dropped glossy mailers across Tennessee labeling Rep. Jody Barrett as “Benedict Barrett,” it was a masterclass in political gaslighting. Barrett, who represents House District 69 and is now running for Congress in District 7, had the audacity to do what conservatives always say lawmakers should do: he listened to his voters. His constituents rejected Governor Bill Lee’s universal school voucher plan, so Barrett voted no. For that act of representation, House leadership retaliated by killing all of his legislation, and the out-of-state money machine swung into action, painting him as a traitor to President Trump.
