Pamela Moses, the independent candidate for U.S. Senate in Tennessee, accused State Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) and Tennessee Democrats of cultural appropriation after she was not invited to speak at the Wednesday debate held by The Tennessee Holler and MLK50: Justice Through Journalism.
Though the debate organizers invited both Johnson and Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) to the debate, Johnson was the only candidate to appear, which Moses told The Tennessee Star prompted her to attend the debate in a bid to participate, largely due to her past involvement with MLK50, a local media organization that began in Memphis.
Well into the debate, Moses rose and began speaking, then took a seat on the stage next to Johnson. After she was given permission to speak, Moses accused the Democrats of trying to silence independent voices.
“I’ll take a seat right here, because I deserve to be here, I have just as much right to be here as Ms. Johnson,” said Moses. She added, “I’m tired of y’all culturally appropriating my people to brainwash them into believing we shouldn’t be able to speak.”
Moses told The Star she crashed the debate to expose viewers to her campaign in a bid to convince voters she is the best candidate to beat Blackburn, but that her remarks about cultural appropriation were directed at Johnson and the Democratic Party.
“When I say cultural appropriation, they want black people, or people of color. They want us to get behind the Democrats,” said Moses. “Did you hear what [Johnson], the only time she spoke to me, what she said?”
During the debate, video uploaded by Moses to social media shows the independent candidate asked Johnson whether the Democrat wanted on her to participate in the debate.
Johnson did not offer an opinion, but noted that she was invited by the debate organizers, which Moses told The Star prompted her comments about cultural appropriation.
“So when she said, ‘I was invited,’ you know how I felt?” Moses stated, before later telling The Star, “Gloria, that was the most racist interaction that I’ve experienced as an adult.”
Moses added, “And whether they think it was racially motivated or not, it is what it is. I was only one of four black people in the room, and they didn’t want me there.”
During her remarks at the debate, Moses also invoked the name of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who left the Democratic Party to launch an independent presidential campaign after claiming Democrats refused to allow their voters the opportunity to decide whether President Joe Biden should become its nominee in 2024.
“This is why Robert F. Kennedy left the Democratic Party and went off to the other side, because he couldn’t speak,” said Moses. “I’m not Robert F. Kennedy, I’m Pamela Moses and I’m running for the right for everybody to have a seat at the table.”
When afforded a second opportunity to speak, Moses used the opportunity stress her independent candidacy to the audience.
Moses explained, “I’m running as an independent candidate because I don’t deal with politics and the partisan stuff. I was a Democrat for 30 years, and y’all haven’t had a Democratic senator since Al Gore.”
Expanding on her remarks at the debate about Kennedy, the former Democrat who recently suspended his independent presidential campaign and endorsed former President Donald Trump, Moses told The Star that “not all the Democrats” seek to silence independent voices, but blamed “gatekeepers within the Democratic Party that are trying to pull the strings.”
Moses told The Star that Democratic officials in Memphis reacted strongly when she considered running against Johnson in the Tennessee Democrats’ primary, drawing comparisons between her independent candidacy and Kennedy’s, and Johnson’s nomination to the presidential nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris.
“With the Democrats, that’s how Kamala got there. Who decided she was supposed to run?” Moses reflected, “I like other Democrats that I think would have made better Democratic candidates, but they selected her, she’s there, and we’re supposed to just accept it.”
The independent candidate additionally told The Star that Harris’ campaign contacted her about a potential endorsement, but confirmed she has no plans to endorse any party’s presidential candidate this year.
“If Kamala wins, we’re stuck in the same situation we’re in now. If Trump wins, I don’t know what might happen,” said Moses.
She later told The Star, “I don’t know, but if Trump wins, I’m not going to be mad. I feel like if Kennedy is working with him, at least I know I can get into the White House.”
The Nashville-based Beacon Center of Tennessee recently published poll results showing Moses has the support of 5 percent of likely voters in Tennessee, and 4 percent among all respondents polled.
Pollsters found Blackburn leading the race with the support 52 percent of Tennessee voters, and Johnson in a distant second place at 29 percent.
Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to pappert.tom@proton.me.
Photo “Pamela Mosesa and Gloria Johnson” by Tennessee Holler.
