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Nation artist John Wealthy is “rollin’” into Tennessee’s upcoming particular election together with his personal endorsement in what’s shaping as much as be a crowded GOP major race.
Wealthy, who makes up half of the long-lasting duo Huge & Wealthy, is campaigning alongside his longtime buddy, state Rep. Jody Barrett, as he runs to exchange former Homeland Safety Committee Chair Mark Inexperienced in Tennessee’s seventh Congressional District.
“I’ve recognized Jody, imagine this or not, since we had been seniors in highschool collectively. We truly graduated the identical highschool,” Wealthy instructed Fox Information Digital in an interview.
“We stored in contact, stayed good mates. However up to now 4 or 5 years, Jody has been a state rep in Tennessee. And so points that had been taking place in Tennessee, Jody and I might be a part of forces, him form of on the within of the political world and me standing on the surface with a very huge platform and large viewers. And we’d work collectively, hand in hand, arm in arm, to make issues occur.”
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John Wealthy performs in the course of the thirteenth Annual Stars for Second Harvest profit at Ryman Auditorium on June 6, 2017, in Nashville. (Tim Mosenfelder/WireImage/Getty Pictures)
Barrett is certainly one of 10 Republicans operating to exchange Inexperienced within the Oct. 7 major.
The final election is scheduled for Dec. 2. However within the deep-red seventh District, which President Donald Trump received by greater than 20 factors in 2024, it’s doubtless the winner of the GOP major will come out on prime.
Barrett, together with state Rep. Gino Bulso, state Rep. Lee Reeves, and former Tennessee Basic Companies Commissioner Matt Van Epps, had been the one Republicans invited to debate their candidacy earlier this week by People for Prosperity Tennessee, in keeping with Tennessee Lookout.
Wealthy instructed Fox Information Digital that along with showing alongside Barrett at marketing campaign occasions, he’s additionally promoted the conservative Home hopeful to Trump himself.
“I’ve truly texted the president a few instances about Jody. I stated, ‘You are going to need this man in Congress. I imply, that is certainly one of your guys.’ And so I am hoping President Trump, perhaps he weighs in on this race,” Wealthy stated.
He added, nonetheless, that it’s attainable Trump stays away from endorsing till after the first is over.
Jody Barrett, seventh Congressional District candidate, speaks throughout a political discussion board on Sept. 8, 2025, in Dickson, Tennessee. (AP Picture/George Walker IV)
Barrett has supported Trump on a broad vary of points, although he notably broke from the president’s COVID-19 vaccine initiative, referred to as Operation Warp Velocity, in the course of the Monday evening debate.
“We’ve got tens of millions of People now who’re vaccine injured, coping with the outcomes of this vaccine mandate,” Barrett stated on the time.
However, Wealthy stated Barrett has linked with Republicans in Tennessee, and he praised him for often difficult institution GOP goals and choices within the state.
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“What I like about actual conservatives is we are going to name out folks in our personal celebration if we expect they’re making a mistake, in the event that they’re on the unsuitable path,” Wealthy stated. “Whereas on the left, they only fall in line and do no matter they’re instructed each single time. Jody has confirmed that he’ll get up for what his folks need.”
He stated at one other level within the interview, “He’s legit. I imply, we begin speaking about what’s a conservative appear to be? It is this man. And once more, if you’ve recognized someone because you had been 17, and now you are in your early 50s, they usually’re the identical man, that is fairly uncommon.”
Then-Homeland Safety Committee Chair Mark Inexperienced speaks on the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 30, 2024. (AP Picture/J. Scott Applewhite)
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Barrett has additionally been endorsed by the Home Freedom Fund, the political arm of the Home Freedom Caucus.
“Jody Barrett’s sturdy conservative document of management, not solely standing as much as Democrats, but additionally his personal celebration when the RINOs get out of line, is strictly what Home Freedom Fund appears for in a candidate,” Allison Weisenberger of the Home Freedom Fund instructed Fox Information Digital.
Barrett himself instructed Fox Information Digital he was “honored” to have Wealthy’s endorsement.
“John Wealthy is my lifelong buddy, a proud Tennessean, a rustic music legend and certainly one of President Trump’s strongest supporters in our state. Having his endorsement means quite a bit, as a result of he has by no means been afraid to talk the reality and get up for conservative values,” Barrett stated.
