<p><table class="image-container float_right" width="200"><tr><td><div class="image"><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/511ba24aecad04a129000038-400-300/scarborough-14.jpg" border="0" alt="Joe Scarborough morning joe rubio" /></div><p class="source">MSNBC</p></td></tr></table>The "<keyword id="1739098" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Morning-Joe">Morning Joe</keyword>" panel slammed Sen. <keyword id="905890" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Marco-Rubio">Marco Rubio</keyword>'s Republican response to the <keyword id="97538" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="State-of-the-Union">State of the Union</keyword> this morning, saying Rubio had "performance issues" and saying he "looked like he was running to be the head of a fraternity in college."</p>
<p><span>"I think there were performance issues," liberal host <keyword id="1768997" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mika-Brzezinski">Mika Brzezinski</keyword> said. "These things happen when you don't really know what you're saying or believe what you're saying or feel what you're saying."</span></p>
<p><span><keyword id="1768998" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Harold-Ford-Jr-">Harold Ford Jr.</keyword>, the former Democratic congressman, agreed with Brzezinski and hit Rubio for his mid-speech <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/marco-rubio-drinks-water-poland-spring-bottle-2013-2" target="_blank">reach for a drink of water</a> as unprofessional.</span></p>
<p><span><span>"He looked last night as if he was running to be the head of a fraternity in college," Ford said. "Fraternity president."</span></span></p>
<p>Conservative host <keyword id="1149380" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Joe-Scarborough">Joe Scarborough</keyword> <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/marco-rubio-drinks-water-poland-spring-bottle-2013-2" target="_blank">called the attention heaped on Rubio's water reach </a>"a cheap shot." He said Rubio had "the toughest gig."</p>
<p>But in the end, Scarborough agreed with the panel that Rubio was underwhelming, lamenting the fact that Rubio didn't "reach out to a new generation of conservatives."</p>
<p><span>"We have to apply our beliefs and our values to the facts that are before us," Scarborough said. "And it's what this party hasn't done. It's what Mitt Romney could never do. He could never connect the dots to relate to middle America. And Marco, for all of his talents, didn't do that last night. We have to actually start figuring out a way to relay our message."</span></p>
<p><span>Watch the clip below, courtesy of <keyword id="221370" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="MSNBC">MSNBC</keyword>:</span></p>
<p><object id="msnbc8a659e" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=10,0,0,0" width="420" height="245"><param name="movie" value="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" /><param name="FlashVars" value="launch=50793463&amp;width=420&amp;height=245" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed name="msnbc8a659e" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" width="420" height="245" flashvars="launch=50793463&amp;width=420&amp;height=245" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" /></object></p>
<p style="font-size: 11px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 420px;">Visit NBCNews.com for <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com">breaking news</a>, <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507">world news</a>, and <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072">news about the economy</a></p>

Morning Joe' Blasts Marco Rubio: It Looked Like 'He Was Running To Be The Head Of A Fraternity

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a29a6d58a4986b2088b4748-2167/rtr1j46y.jpg" alt="RTR1J46Y" data-mce-source="Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters"><p class="source"><span>Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><ul><li><strong>Harold Ford, Jr. a&#xa0;former U.S. Democratic congressman was fired by Morgan Stanley for inappropriate conduct.</strong></li><li><strong>Ford issued a statement after the firing in which he threatened to sue the bank and his accuser.</strong></li><li><strong>The Huffington Post earlier cited&#xa0;an unnamed woman who claimed Ford harassed her on a night several years ago.</strong></li></ul><hr><p><br>Harold Ford, Jr. a&#xa0;former U.S. Democratic lawmaker turned investment banker, threatened to sue Morgan Stanley after he was fired from the bank for inappropriate conduct.<br><br>A spokeswoman told Reuters on Thursday that Ford had been fired, saying that he was let go for "conduct inconsistent with our values and in violation of our policies."<br><br>The news of Ford's departure was first reported by the <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/harold-ford-fired-morgan-stanley_us_5a29743ee4b0b185e53a0ce6">Huffington Post</a>, which cited interviews with an unnamed woman who claimed Ford harassed her on a night several years ago.<br><br>Ford issued a statement to multiple media outlets that denies any allegations and says threatens legal action against the bank as well as the person who made the allegations against him, who he describes as a news reporter. Here's the statement.</br></br></br></br></br></br></br></p><div data-beacon="{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;citation&quot;}}" data-beacon-parsed="true" data-rapid-cpos="8" data-rapid-subsec="paragraph" data-rapid-parsed="subsec"><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"This simply did not happen. I have never forcibly grabbed any woman or man in my life. Having drinks and dinner for work is part of my job,&#xa0;and all of my outreach to the news reporter making these false allegations was professional and at the direction of my firm for business purposes. I support and have tremendous respect for the brave women now speaking out in this important national dialogue. False claims like this undermine the real silence breakers. I will now be bringing legal action against the reporter who has made these false claims about me as well as Morgan Stanley for improper termination."</p></div><p>Ford, a frequent guest on news and finance TV shows, served five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives for Tennessee's 9th district before joining Morgan Stanley in 2011.</p><p>The firing comes as companies, lawmakers, and politicians grapple with a string of allegations against prominent men. Democratic Senator Al Franken resigned on Thursday after a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him.</p><p>&#xa0;</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Harold Ford Jr statement on allegations of wrongdoing <a href="https://t.co/aH4J9CeH15">pic.twitter.com/aH4J9CeH15</a></p>- Chris Cillizza  (@CillizzaCNN) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/938840825819254784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2017</a></blockquote><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div></hr>

The ex-Congressman fired by Morgan Stanley for inappropriate conduct is threatening to sue

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a36a2de4aa6b527008b57ab-1024/gettyimages-500497868.jpg" alt="chris matthews" data-mce-source="Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for RFK Human Rights" data-mce-caption="Chris Matthews in 2015." /><p class="source"><span>Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for RFK Human Rights</span></p><p class="caption">Chris Matthews in 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>A staffer accused MSNBC host Chris Matthews of making inappropriate comments about her in 1999.</strong></li><li><strong>Matthews was formally reprimanded, and NBC paid the staffer a separation payment when she left the company.</strong></li><li><strong>An NBC spokesperson said Matthews' comments were deemed inappropriate, but were not sexual propositions.</strong></li></ul><hr /><p><br />MSNBC host Chris Matthews was accused of making inappropriate comments about a staffer, who NBC later paid a separation payment when leaving the network.</p><p>The Daily Caller <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2017/12/16/nbc-made-payment-to-staffer-after-sexual-harassment-claim-against-chris-matthews/">first reported</a> the incident on Saturday, and Politico <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/17/chris-matthews-nbc-inappropriate-comments-300151">clarified</a> on Sunday that in 1999, a staffer complained to management that Matthews made "inappropriate comments about her in front of colleagues."</p><p>Matthews was formally reprimanded, but an NBC spokesperson told Politico that though Matthews' comments were deemed inappropriate, they were not sexual propositions.</p><p>The staffer later left the show, and received a separation payment from NBC.</p><p>Much of the situation remains publicly unclear.</p><p>The staffer who accused Matthews of making inappropriate comments has not been named, and what he said to her has not been made public.</p><p>In recent months, several NBC stars have been accused of harassment.</p><p>Both former "Today" host Matt Lauer and former MSNBC contributor Mark Halperin left the network last month following revelations about their histories of harassment, while contributors Glenn Thrush and Harold Ford Jr. have not appeared on the network since both were accused of harassment.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/divided-family-donald-trump-election-undividing-america-2017-7">A mother and daughter stopped speaking after Trump was elected - here's their emotional first conversation after the long silence</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/s3XkPK9A-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

NBC paid out a staffer who accused Chris Matthews of making inappropriate jokes in 1999

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a2ab00e8a4986d4138b49a1-1920/screen%20shot%202017-12-08%20at%20102819%20am.png" alt="Morning Joe" data-mce-source="MSNBC"><p class="source"><span>MSNBC</span></p><p class="caption">"Morning Joe" hosts Mike Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div><ul><li><strong>"Morning Joe" cohost Mika&#xa0;Brzezinski on Friday cast doubt on the veracity of the allegations made by one of Al Franken's sexual harassment accusers.</strong></li><li><strong>Brzezinksi's comments seemed to question the intentions of the #MeToo movement at large.</strong></li><li><strong>In the same broadcast, Brzezinski announced MSNBC's suspension of a "Morning Joe" contributor who was accused of sexual misconduct.&#xa0;</strong></li></ul><hr><p>&#xa0;</p><p>On Friday, "Morning Joe" cohost M<span>ika Brzezinski</span>&#xa0;cast doubt on a sexual harassment accuser of Al Franken while seeming to question the intentions of the #MeToo phenomenon, a movement which has seen myriad women come forward with experiences and accusations of sexual misconduct in recent months.&#xa0;</p><p>"In this #MeToo environment, you must always just believe the women and I think that there's a lot of reasons why we need to look at the women seriously and believe them," Brzezinski said on Friday's show. "I'm just wondering if all women need to be believed, and I'm concerned that we are being the judge, the jury, and the cops here, and so did Senate Democrats getting ahead of their skis."</p><p><span>Brzezinski went on to question whether the first woman to accuse Al Franken of sexual harassment, Leeann Tweeden, had a political motive. (<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/al-franken-resigns-2017-12">Franken resigned from his Senate seat</a>&#xa0;on Thursday in response to the numerous allegations of misconduct made against him over weeks, and pressure from his Democratic colleagues.)&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>Brzezinski noted that Tweeden had appeared as a "Hannity" contributor.</span></p><p>"We've never really talked about the woman who first came out against Al Franken," Brzezinski said. "A performer, a Playboy model who goes on 'Hannity,' who voted for Trump. I see some <keyword id="6358883" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Politics">politics</keyword> there."</p><p>In the same broadcast on Friday, <a href="http://deadline.com/2017/12/msnbcs-mika-brzezinski-harold-ford-jr-suspended-over-harassment-claim-1202222680/">Brzezinski announced</a> that "Morning Joe" contributor Harold Ford Jr. would be taken off the air after <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/msnbc-takes-contributor-harold-ford-air-1065471">Ford was terminated by his employer</a>, Morgan Stanley, for alleged misconduct.&#xa0;</p><p>Watch a segment of the broadcast below:</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mika Brzezinski Questions <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MeToo?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MeToo</a> Movement: 'I'm Just Wondering If All Women Need To Be Believed' <a href="https://t.co/e1eKeJnCgF">pic.twitter.com/e1eKeJnCgF</a></p>- Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) <a href="https://twitter.com/LevineJonathan/status/939135296951734272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2017</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-hanson-band-25-years-later-zac-isaac-taylor-christmas-tour-mmmbop-beer-3cg-label-business-2017-12">It's been 25 years since the band Hanson was formed -&#xa0;here's what they're up to now</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/1POSER87-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div></hr>

'Morning Joe' host Mika Brzezinski questions the #MeToo movement: Do 'all women need to be believed?'

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/589263776e09a826008b471f-2004/undefined" alt="Joe Scarborough Mika Brzezinski" /><p class="source"><span>Neilson Barnard/Getty</span></p><p class="caption">Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski</p>President Donald Trump and top adviser Jared Kushner reportedly offered to officiate "Morning Joe" hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski's wedding. <p>Vanity Fair <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/05/exclusive-joe-and-mika-engaged">reported</a> Thursday that according to Scarborough, the president suggested in January that the couple be married at the White House or Trump's Mar-a-Lago club.</p><p>"Jared interrupted and said, 'Hey, you know what? I've got my license. I could marry you,'" Scarborough told Vanity Fair.</p><p>"'Why would you marry them? They could have the President of the United States marry them,'" Scarborough said Trump interjected.</p><p>Though Brzezinski dismissed the possibility of being married at the White House, it is unclear whether the offer would stand today.</p><p>The once-cozy relationship between the couple and the president appears to have hit a rough patch since he took office. Both Brzezinski and Scarborough have been increasingly critical of some administration figures and policy decisions, ripping his rollout of the travel ban earlier this year, and barring one of his top advisers from the show.</p><p>Brzezinski told the Los Angeles Times earlier this year that she and the president are no longer on speaking terms, which she blamed on her gender and outspoken criticism of Trump. </p><p>"He just won't even engage," <a href="https://twitter.com/maxwelltani/status/853698178574680064">she said</a>. "Joe will punch him in the face and he'll come back for more."</p><p>The romance between the two hosts has been widely rumored for years, though they've shied away from publicly discussing it before announcing their engagement in Vanity Fair.</p><p>Indeed, congratulated by Harold Ford Jr. on Thursday's "Morning Joe," the two hosts <a href="https://twitter.com/lutherlowe/status/860124854837760001">blushed and pivoted</a> to the show's ratings.</p><p>"Thank you, good good," Brezinski said when Ford congratulated the couple.</p><p>"Numbers have been up lately, show's going well," co-host Willie Geist replied.</p><p>"It is, thank you," Brzezinski said. "That's it."</p>            <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/yale-professor-governments-use-disasters-control-society-george-bush-911-donald-trump-2017-4">A Yale history professor explains how governments can use disasters and tragedies to control society</a></h3>                                    Please enable Javascript to watch this video                    

Report: Trump offered to officiate Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski's wedding

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5bd65f843e37945fbe5d8fa4-2400/dsc05213.jpg" border="0" alt="Rep. Marsha Blackburn meets a voter at a pumpkin festival in Franklin, Tennessee on October 27." data-mce-source="Eliza Relman/Business Insider" data-mce-caption="Rep. Marsha Blackburn meets a voter at a pumpkin festival in Franklin, Tennessee on October 27."><p class="source"><span>Eliza Relman/Business Insider</span></p><p class="caption">Rep. Marsha Blackburn meets a voter at a pumpkin festival in Franklin, Tennessee, on October 27.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>The battle between eight-term Republican congressman Marsha Blackburn and Democratic former Gov. Phil Bredesen over Tennessee's Senate seat has become deeply divisive.&#xa0;</li><li>Many Tennesseans point to the attack ads outside groups have released in a Senate race in which spending clocked in at a staggering $68 million.</li><li>The race has also featured two candidates with very different approaches to <keyword id="6358883" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="politics">politics</keyword>. </li></ul><p>FRANKLIN, Tennessee - The scene at a pumpkin festival in this city's downtown last Saturday was cheerful. Parents pushed their stroller-bound toddlers dressed in Halloween costumes. Dog owners paraded their costumed pets across a stage in the town square.&#xa0;</p><p>But the exurb of Nashville is ground zero for one of the country's most competitive, consequential, and nasty US Senate races.</p><p>At stake is retiring GOP Sen. Bob Corker's seat, over which eight-term Republican congressman Marsha Blackburn and Democratic former Gov. Phil Bredesen are locked in a tight battle.&#xa0;</p><p>Blackburn strolled around the festival on Saturday morning, shaking hands and chatting with supporters. Some 500 miles away, a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-how-it-unfolded-2018-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gunman opened fire inside the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh</a>, killing 11 congregants in the most deadly attack on the US Jewish community in decades. Progressive Jewish groups called the anti-Semitic violence "a direct culmination" of President Donald Trump's - and the Republican Party's - rhetoric.&#xa0;</p><p>You wouldn't have known it from the mood at the pumpkin festival, but Tennessee is suffering from the same deep political divisions riling Washington and the nation.&#xa0;</p><p>"People, regardless of their ideology, know that something in American politics isn't right at the moment," said Jeff Yarbro, a Democratic state senator from Nashville.</p><h2><span style="color: #000000;">Divisive rhetoric and 'ridiculous' attacks</span></h2><p>Tennessee hasn't had a competitive state-wide political contest since 2006, when Corker narrowly beat Democrat Harold Ford, Jr. This year's race is being fought through the prism of deep national divisions.&#xa0;</p><p>Many Tennesseans point to the attack ads both camps have released in a Senate race in which spending clocked in at a staggering <a href="https://www.apnews.com/2f882af88bbf45e88315e021cf14aec1">$68 million</a>. The most vicious ads have been bankrolled by outside groups, including the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity on the right and Sen. Chuck Schumer's Senate Majority PAC on the left. The groups have poured $17.8 million into supporting Bredesen's campaign and $23.2 million into backing Blackburn's, respectively.</p><p>The first thing that Dawn Van Ryckeghem, a 54-year-old swim coach and Blackburn supporter, said when asked about the race is that she's been repelled by the "ridiculous" attack ads.&#xa0;</p><p>"When I was younger, when my mom was younger, politicians had respect for each other, they didn't call each other names, they didn't do smear campaigns and they kept to the facts," Van Ryckeghem said between bites of kettle corn at the Franklin festival on Saturday, adding that Trump is "spewing out hatred and divisiveness."&#xa0;</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5bd78e26f556fc08a5438064-1133/dsc05239.jpg" border="0" alt="Dawn" data-mce-source="Eliza Relman/Business Insider" data-mce-caption="Dawn"><p class="source"><span>Eliza Relman/Business Insider</span></p><p class="caption">Dawn Van Ryckeghem (left), a 54-year-old swim coach, said Trump is "spewing out hatred and divisiveness," but she's supporting his pick in the Tennessee Senate race.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div><ul><li>In <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnXjqtqdGD4&amp;feature=youtu.be">one ad</a>, Americans for Prosperity accused Bredesen of supporting higher gas and sales taxes and spending lavishly on the governor's mansion while he led the state through a budget crisis. Some of those claims are <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/06/koch-funded-group-misfires-with-attack-ad-phil-bredesen/?utm_term=.539ed91dd1c6">untrue</a>, according to independent fact-checkers.</li><li>A National Republican Senatorial Committee <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8eP5qw39G8&amp;feature=youtu.be">ad</a><span style="color: #222222;"> accuses Bredesen of shredding documents related to sexual harassment claims made by state employees while he was governor.</span></li><li>Fact-checkers also found that attack misleading, and Bredesen <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tvZWGw-3ao&amp;feature=youtu.be">released a response ad</a><span style="color: #222222;">&#xa0;in which former female colleagues call Blackburn a "liar."</span></li><li>Meanwhile, Senate Majority PAC ads accuse Blackburn of being&#xa0;a Washington insider who's repeatedly voted to raise her own salary while stripping benefits from vulnerable Americans and being "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjBX6GSaJPM">bought and paid for by the opioid industry</a><span style="color: #222222;">."</span></li></ul><p>"The ads this cycle are orders of magnitude worse, in terms of nastiness," said Josh Clinton, a political science professor at Vanderbilt.</p><p>He added that negative ads can depress enthusiasm and turnout, particularly among independents and new or irregular voters, on whom Bredesen is counting.</p><p>"So if you think cynically, that's probably better news for the stronger party in the state, which has a larger base," he said.</p><h2>'Marsha Blackburn is a white supremacist!'</h2><p>Perhaps the most unexpected attack launched in the race from Taylor Swift, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-endorsement-politics-2018-10">who broke her political silence</a> by&#xa0;slamming Blackburn as an anti-woman candidate who would undermine civil and human rights. She encouraged fellow Tennesseans to vote for Bredesen and Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper.</p><p>"<span>Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me," Swift wrote in <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BopoXpYnCes/?hl=en&amp;taken-by=taylorswift">an Instagram post</a> of Blackburn. "These are not MY Tennessee values."</span></p><p>Exemplifying the deep tensions at play in the race, anti-Blackburn protesters <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/blackburn-angry-mob-interrupted-rally-tennessee-lindsey-graham/story?id=58819868">interrupted</a> a moment of silence for victims of the Pittsburgh massacre during a Sunday rally in Nashville. As the crowd quieted in respect for those who were killed by an anti-Semitic mass shooter, a woman called out, "Marsha Blackburn is a white supremacist!"</p><p>Blackburn joined the crowd's chants of "USA! USA!" as several protesters were forcibly dragged out of the event by police. She later called the demonstrators a "liberal angry mob."&#xa0;</p><p>Bredesen's campaign also condemned the protesters, with whom it said it had no association, and also accused Blackburn staffers of disrupting Bredesen's events.&#xa0;</p><p><span>"It is&#xa0;a shame that people disrupted Congresswoman Blackburn's event and it is a shame that Congresswoman Blackburn's campaign staffers have been proudly screaming at 37 of Governor Bredesen's events," Bredesen's press secretary, Alyssa Hansen, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/blackburn-angry-mob-interrupted-rally-tennessee-lindsey-graham/story?id=58819868">said in a statement to reporters</a>.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#xa0;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5bd62e7371f7ce64924cfbf4-1280/dsc05277.jpg" border="0" alt="Phil Bredesen talks with a supporter at a campaign event on October 27." data-mce-source="Eliza Relman/Business Insider" data-mce-caption="Phil Bredesen talks with a supporter at a campaign event on October 27."><p class="source"><span>Eliza Relman/Business Insider</span></p><p class="caption">Phil Bredesen talks with a supporter at a campaign event on October 27.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><h2>A clash of styles</h2><p>Blackburn and Bredesen have different views on policy, but their differing styles are particularly apparent in this race.&#xa0;</p><p>Bredesen is understated, measured, cautious - what some call boring. He largely sticks to policy, a strategic move - he would lose cultural battles over guns, abortion, or protesting during the pledge of allegiance. Meanwhile, Blackburn is a conservative firebrand who's doing her best to energize the GOP base for a repeat of 2016.</p><p>Despite unbridled partisanship in Washington, Bredesen insists he has "a high school civics view of our country" and is "pained" by what he sees as "a government of people standing on opposite sides of the room and shouting at each other." He said that he's tried to engage as little as possible in political attacks.&#xa0;</p><p>"I think it's certainly appropriate to contrast yourself, but I have not tried to correct or fight back on every single crazy thing that comes of out these ads," Bredesen said in a Saturday interview. "I don't want to run a campaign where the issues are driven by the opponent. I like to talk about my own issues."</p><p>Blackburn made her name on cable TV, is one of the most conservative members of the House, and has become one of Trump's most loyal allies in that chamber, where she's served since 2003. She&#xa0;introduced her Senate bid last year by framing herself as more conservative than the rest. </p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5bd7a684c9570109295f5447-1133/dsc05215.jpg" border="0" alt="Rep. Marsha Blackburn talks with a supporter in Franklin, TN on October 27." data-mce-source="Eliza Relman/Business Insider" data-mce-caption="Rep. Marsha Blackburn talks with a supporter in Franklin, TN on October 27."><p class="source"><span>Eliza Relman/Business Insider</span></p><p class="caption">Rep. Marsha Blackburn talks with a supporter in Franklin on October 27.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Tennessee has never had a Republican nominee as conservative or who is as much an ideological warrior as Rep. Blackburn is," said Yarbro, the Democratic state senator.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But despite Blackburn's full embrace of Trump, many Tennesseans draw a distinction between the candidate and the president. And the congressman herself occasionally draws a line herself, conceding that Tennesseans won't always stand for his rhetoric.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"There's been a couple of times … I've said we need to take a kinder approach," Blackburn said in an interview last Saturday. "This is the South and people have a lot of respect for manners."</span></p><div><iframe src="https://abcnews.go.com/video/embed?id=58822660" width="640" height="360" scrolling="no" style="border:none;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/megyn-kelly-santa-is-white-remark-fox-news-nbc-ignition-today-controversial-remarks-2017-11">Megyn Kelly in 2017: 'I regret a lot' of the controversial stuff I've said on live television</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/0jG96Zls-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

You Searched For "Harold Ford Jr" and got 6 results

Morning Joe' Blasts Marco Rubio: It Looked Like 'He Was Running To Be The Head Of A Fraternity

Brett LoGiurato

The ex-Congressman fired by Morgan Stanley for inappropriate conduct is threatening to sue

Mohammed Hadi,Reuters

NBC paid out a staffer who accused Chris Matthews of making inappropriate jokes in 1999

Maxwell Tani

'Morning Joe' host Mika Brzezinski questions the #MeToo movement: Do 'all women need to be believed?'

John Lynch

Report: Trump offered to officiate Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski's wedding

Maxwell Tani

'Ridiculous' attack ads and bitter protests define a divisive Tennessee race that could determine control of the Senate

Eliza Relman