GOP gubernatorial candidate visits AFA
Kay White, Republican gubernatorial candidate from Johnson City, stopped by Don Delfis Pancake House & Restaurant along West End Avenue and spoke for almost 20 minutes.
White, who has never held elected office while twice losing in attempts to win the 1st District Congressional seat in 1996 and 1998 — then as a conservative Democrat — spoke during ACT For America’s monthly “fourth Thursday” meeting Aug. 24.
“I am not a politician but I have led the battle for many politicians,” said White, adding, “I was over all of East Tennessee as director” for President Donald Trump’s successful 2016 presidential campaign.
Under the campaign slogan “Turning Tennessee Back to God and Family,” White’s pledges if elected governor include: “Incorporate greater state line security to stop the flow of drugs into the state … turn the education system back to each local county … I do not support Common Core … legislation to ensure all veterans have the medical care they need … legislation to designate one-half cent of Sales Tax to roads and bridges or a one-time fee of $5 on license plates … creating jobs for those on welfare to perform before dispersing taxpayers’ money, unless totally disabled.”
On a personal level, “I’ve had many miracles in my life,” White, a realtor and former small business owner, said.
One miracle was her daughter, age 35, waking up from a coma following two strokes resulting in “very little brain wave activity.”
“For three days in a row at 3 o’clock in the morning, God would wake me up and I would go down on my knees and pray,” she said.
Told by doctors that her daughter’s “brain waves had picked up a day or two” before she regained consciousness, White recalled saying, “‘I know, that’s when God came down and He started His healing.’”
Ironically, before White announced her candidacy she was a supporter of GOP gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Mae Beavers.
“Mae Beavers is a good woman. I started out to help her. … Mae and I were good friends. I would love to still call her a friend,” White said.
However, “There were people in her campaign, they thought I was a bit off the wall because I do talk about God a lot,” White said.
White added that Beavers received bad advice. “I told Mae not to do something that she did. I advised her to call someone because she had made a promise. … I said, ‘Keep your word,’” White told the gathering.
“The other people said, ‘No, no, this is your time. Jump on it,’” she added. “They were not the kind of people Mae Beavers needed.”
Susan Gingrich, sister of former Congressional Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, is an active conservative spokesperson who joined the campaign staff of Beavers Wednesday, Aug 23.
She spoke briefly to AFA Aug. 24 without addressing Beavers’ positions on issues.
“Somebody sent me an article today that says, ‘The Council on Islamic Relations is demanding that the Confederate statues come down.’ They have a lot of nerve, don’t they?” Gingrich said.
By comparison, “In North Africa there were black Muslims involved in slavery and involved in bringing people to this country,” she said.
“So I agree with the person who wrote this article: ‘anything Muslim, like their mosques, that’s an affront to slavery.’ Let’s remove all of them,” she added to audience applause.
Officials with AFA stressed they do not endorse any GOP gubernatorial primary candidate.
“… These people who are coming here, they don’t care one bit about the [Confederate] statues. It’s just a reason for them to come and get some attention.”
Moreover, “Whites are being made to feel like we should be guilty for things when we haven’t done anything,” Gingrich said. “So we have got to rise, we have got to speak up. Christians, you have to be bold.”
In reference to 9/11, “Look how downhill we’ve gone ever since that,” she said.
