Fox ‘Comfortable’ With Anti-Christian Attacks; Barry Says ‘It’s All False’

In a radio ad targeting Nashville’s African-American voters, mayoral candidate David Fox is painting his opponent as anti-Christian. He accuses Megan Barry of fighting with faith groups and opposing public prayer.

The accusations are targeted more at Megan Barry’s husband than they are at the candidate herself. The one-minute radio spot lifts a phrase from a
blog post by Bruce Barry, in which he refers disparagingly to a “Jesus-Industrial Complex.” A Fox campaign spokesman says the other claims are supported by Barry’s involvement as a board member of the ACLU of Tennessee.

In recent weeks, David Fox has talked more freely about his own Jewish faith, and he condemned an email campaign accusing Megan Barry of being an atheist, calling it “malicious gossip.”

More:

Fox Condemns Atheist Rumors As ‘Malicious Gossip,’ Barry Describes ‘Weird Experience’

But Fox says he’s “comfortable” with his latest ad.   

“All of our ads have been accurate,” Fox said Monday before the Downtown Nashville Rotary Club. “I think people have a fair conversation about our priorities, our faith, our values. That’s how you get some kind of sense of predictability with a candidate.”

At a press conference meant as a rebuttal, Megan Barry called for Fox to discontinue the ad in question, saying, “it’s all false.” Her campaign points to her own Catholic upbringing and her vote on the Metro Council to proclaim a “National Day of Prayer.”

Rev. Judy Cummings — a Barry supporter — suggested the line of attack is meant to suppress turnout in the African-American community, which didn’t have a big showing for either Fox or Barry in the general election.

“Shame on anyone who falls for these lies,” Cummings said Monday outside Barry’s North Nashville campaign office.

The negative attacks were enough to draw former candidate Howard Gentry off the sidelines. He appeared at the press conference with Cummings to make an endorsement for Barry. Shortly after the general election in August, Gentry had said he wouldn’t choose sides.

Bruce Barry also appeared among those gathered for his wife, though he did not take the podium. Megan Barry joked that he has said “many things” over the years as a writer for the Nashville Scene and that she’d “be lying” if she claimed to have read it all.

“But Bruce has never been anything but kind and supportive of me and my faith in the 22 years that we’ve been married,” she said. 

She added: “My husband is not running to be the mayor of Nashville. I am.”