Davidson County Republicans hold watch party for RNC, protest 'against government overreach'

The Davidson County Republican Party held a watch party Thursday night to watch President Donald Trump accept the Republican Party's nomination for their presidential candidate.

The event also doubled as a protest "against government overreach" related to mandates amid the coronavirus pandemic and the recently passed Nashville tax hike. 

Approximately 200 people attended the event held outdoors at the Fontanel. Although masks were handed out to all attendees and were worn by half the crowd at the beginning, participation dwindled to practically none by the end of the night.

The night began with videos ridiculing U.S. Rep.  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York for working as a waitress and Democratic Presidential Candidate Sen. Joe Biden's speech patterns. 

Political commentator Tomi Lahren, who recently moved to Nashville, spoke briefly at the start of the night and urged Davidson County Republicans to "take back the country."

"I know a lot of you are looking around and thinking, 'I don't recognize my country, and I don't recognize my city,'" she said. "But let me tell you this, it's worth fighting for." 

Republican lawmakers spoke at the event and two bands performed, including Sen. Jack Johnson's band, the Austin Brothers. 

Johnson, R-Franklin, spoke of his support of Bill Haggerty, who is running for Senate. Haggerty, a former United States Ambassador to Japan, planned to attend Thursday night's rally but instead went to Washington, D.C. for the Republican National Convention, Johnson said. Gov. Bill Lee also traveled to the country's capital for the RNC. 

Sen. Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, urged Republicans to be cautious about criticizing party leadership and "sending mixed messages." 

"Be really careful, really careful about criticizing Republicans," he told the crowd, many of whom had dressed in American flags, patriotic colors and Trump 2020 clothing. "Because when you do that, you're feeding the Democrats." 

Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Mount Juliet, praised Trump's "Christian voice" ahead of the livestreaming of his speech outside the White House. 

"He's not a Republican who lets them run him over," she said. "He's going to run them over." 

Reach Brinley Hineman at bhineman@tennessean.com and on Twitter @brinleyhineman.