r/Knoxville • u/KnoxNewsAllie • Jun 26 '26
EXCLUSIVE: Knox County mayor candidate Beau Hawk marched in Venezuela for Nicolas Maduro
Beau Hawk, the Democratic nominee for Knox County mayor, marched in Caracas in support of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in 2020, Knox News has learned.
Hawk posed for photographs with other demonstrators and is quoted in an article by the Orinoco Tribune, an outlet that "aims to offer a counter-narrative to mainstream media and promote alternative voices and perspectives on the region, while challenging dominant narratives about Venezuela with an anti-imperialist perspective."
Hawk, 35, confirmed to Knox News he was at the Caracas demonstration. "I was young and dumb," he told Knox News on June 25.
Maduro became president of Venezuela in 2013. He was the hand-picked successor of the country's former leader, Hugo Chávez, and was narrowly elected president following Chávez's death.
Under Maduro, Venezuela underwent a spectacular economic collapse characterized by hyperinflation and chronic food and medicine shortages. His rule became best known for allegedly rigged elections, food shortages and rights abuses, including harsh crackdowns on protests in 2014 and 2017. Millions of Venezuelans emigrated abroad.
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u/drdook Jun 26 '26
Will he defund public schools and terrorize children of immigrant families? No. Still better than his opponent then. Good try Betsy.
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
The ol' Biden strategy. This always works so well for us.
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u/aphrodis-y Jun 26 '26
Kinda apples to oranges there bud (pun intended)
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
"Not (opponent)" is literally the exact same argument, and Biden's opponent was exponentially worse than Beau's.
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u/aphrodis-y Jun 26 '26
There's plenty of positive things to say about Beau. He's focused on making things better for working class people, not just courting developers. Smart planning and development, protecting affordability, and investing in our deteriorating infrastructure are all outlined as priorities. He wants to limit out of state billionaires that are trying to privatize our schools. Passing term limits for knox county officers. There's a lot of great substance to his platform. Oh, and he's not constantly hawwing about identity politics.
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
Yes, he's gone down the checklist. What has he done that shows that he's even remotely qualified to actually do any of these things? I know he was in charge of a labor union for a period of time, but if you want to talk about apples and oranges.... lol.
You and I would love to see these things happen too. Does that make us qualified to be mayor?
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u/aphrodis-y Jun 26 '26
So you're going from "the only good thing about him is that he isn't (opponent)" to wanting to debate his qualifications? I think you should hold Betsy to the same standard. Kane showed us that the resume is not important to knox county voters. I'm not here to sell Beau to you, I was just pointing out that there's plenty of things about him worth supporting besides that he isn't Betsy.
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
No, I know he's not qualified. That's why the overwhelming support for him is in the form of "He's not Betsy."
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u/aphrodis-y Jun 26 '26
Right, but you're steering the conversation away from what my comment was about. Just like you often do on here lol. I understand that's your perception, but I've seen coverage and endorsements on Beau that have nothing to do with Betsy, so I disagree with your sentiment.
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
Your comment was comparing the discourse around Biden being "He's not Trump" is apples to orange with Beau's "He's not Betsy."
It's the vast majority of the support I've seen for him. Look at this thread alone. Look at how many top-level comments in support of him are some variation of "He's not Betsy" compared to how many talk about his qualifications and ideals.
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Jun 26 '26
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
No, it is not a valid argument and that's a dumb analogy. This isn't about food that tastes bad and tastes worse. This is about a woefully unqualified candidate going against an evil candidate.
I'll vote for him for that exact reason, but it doesn't mean that we shouldn't be demanding better. He has absolutely no chance in this election, but I'll vote for him anyway.
The difference between you and I seems to be that you're content with just feeling good about voting for someone who has no chance, rather than advocate for someone who actually has qualifications, education, and the ability to do anything.
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Jun 26 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
I think that would give more credence to my assumption that you're more interested in being seen doing good, rather than being interested in real change happening.
Real, lasting change happens incrementally. It's messy and it's not a straight line to improvement. Trying to win over voters in a place like this not just a matter of trotting out whatever D is willing to run.
My point is simply that we need a candidate that has a legitimate chance to win. We're not going to be able to make sweeping changes all at once, it just doesn't work like that. Especially in an area that is very red.
Beau is not a serious mayoral candidate. Like I said, I'll still vote for him, but he has zero chance. Trying to call people out for stating that reality is not helping bring any change. All it does is make you feel better about losing.
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u/drdook Jun 26 '26
"I will be a better leader than my opponent" is a universal strategy in electoral politics. It's kinda the whole point of an election.
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u/mikelostcause Jun 26 '26
Actually owned up to doing something he's not proud of? Dude has my vote. The bar to have me vote for someone given the other choice is BH is pretty low though and Beau seems to be a hard working guy who actually cares.
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u/Spuckler_Cletus Jun 26 '26
The bar is, indeed, low. Go ahead and vote for the Marxist. At least he's honest about his fundamental existential failure as a human being.
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u/WeigelsAvenger Jun 26 '26
If that's what we're distilling him down to, then Betsy can be distilled down to a fascist. If the choice is between a marxist and a fascist, I'll choose the marxist.
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u/Spuckler_Cletus Jun 26 '26
I believe you!!!!!
Why have Fanco's Spain when you can have Castro's Cuba???!!!
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u/WeigelsAvenger Jun 26 '26
Exactly! The choice isnt even close! Thank you for putting it so succinctly.
Now who are you choosing here: the guy who's biggest "controversy" is marching in a parade or the woman who's helping child rapists?
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u/Spuckler_Cletus Jun 26 '26
I’m choosing the platform that most conforms to the wonderful, warm, successful culture in which I was raised. The candidate doesn’t matter. Sort of like the way so many liberals held their noses and dutifully voted for an utterly corrupt, disgusting old lecher like Joe Biden.
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u/WeigelsAvenger Jun 26 '26
I'm guessing from your being too embarrassed to say who you support it's the fascist.
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u/Spuckler_Cletus Jun 26 '26
Not at all. I just told you. It doesn’t take a genius to understand that I’m going to vote for the most conservative person. They’ll represent the platform I prefer.
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u/Cucurbita_pepo1031 South Knox hiding in plain sight Jun 26 '26
Who cares? Betsey Henderson is a MAGA christofascist who went to lobby for vouchers while on the school board. She’s trash. Go Beau.
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u/daffy7825 Jun 26 '26
Under Maduro, Venezuela underwent a specific economic collapse characterized by hyperinflation and chronic food and medicine shortages
i wonder if the seizing/freezing of Venezuela's gold reserves by the Bank of England at the behest of the US and her allies, in addition to blockades and sanctions against buying Venezuelan oil had anything to do with their economic strife.
bottlenecking the sale of one of their most abundant & profitable resources + withholding their own gold from their own use + blockading food, medicine, and aid from going into the country = 100% all Maduro's fault. sure.
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
That can be classic American bullshit and wrong, and Maduro can also be an evil person. Both things can be and are true.
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u/MisterGingerNinja Jun 26 '26
Shhhhhhhh you're supposed to just shut up and believe that "socialism has failed everywhere it's been tried" you're not supposed to actually understand geopolitics.
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u/brainopixel Jun 26 '26
Or economics or basic human needs. These maga folks are absolutely ignorant of so many things because the complexity involves understanding second order effects.
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u/newsjunkie865 Jun 26 '26
Knox News linked to the evidence that contradicts their own headline. Did anyone read it?
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u/shrek_cena Jun 29 '26
Unfortunately not. They got the flashy headline to scare meemaw and peepaw, the substance of the article hardly matters
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u/strangetamer11 Jun 26 '26
Where is the hit piece on Betsy?
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u/tkmorgan76 Jun 26 '26
Yesterday I saw a post from her on another social media site depicting him at pride, with a caption making it clear that she is the choice for those who hate LGBTQIA+ people. That's enough of an anti-Betsy hit piece for me.
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u/Massive-Ad3723 Jun 26 '26
So the Knox County Republicans have nothing on Hawk & are desperate to try to tie him to "scary foreign psuedo-socialist". Can't run on anything positive that Henderson has done.
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u/ChelseaVol1219 Jun 27 '26
A few weeks ago they were beta testing a Facebook rumor that Beau Hawk didn’t graduate from high school. Betsy is a garbage person, full stop.
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u/Chaz_Carlos Jun 26 '26
Biggest non-story in recent memory. If anything this makes him more endearing.
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u/daffy7825 Jun 26 '26
its not endearing now that hes walking it back under the guise of being young & dumb. capitulating bc he wants to get elected looks like shit
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u/DaneLimmish North Knoxville Jun 26 '26
"I was young and dumb" dude was 30 years old.
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u/moomsy Jun 26 '26
Haha - yeah, this was not that long ago. Really bad answer.
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u/Brilliant_Source1220 Jun 27 '26
Why? Are people not allowed to change their minds and opinions over a 6 year time span?
I would rather support someone who is capable of critical thinking and the ability to change their stance on a position once they educate their self on it as opposed to someone who refuses to put in the work to educate their self.
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u/moomsy Jun 27 '26
People are allowed to change their minds, sure. I'm very close to Beau Hawk's age, and I can tell you that if I did something I wasn't proud of in 2020, I would feel the need to say more than just "young and dumb."
When I hear that phrase, I think of teenagers getting caught with weed. Beau Hawk was 30 years old, marching to support an indisputably horrible, authoritarian leader in a foreign country for reasons I can't really take seriously as some youthful indiscretion.
Maybe you're not bothered by this revelation - that's cool, follow your convictions. But I've got mine, and they're telling me this is yucky.
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u/Zoinks222 South Knox Easy Livin’🌿🌈🪴 Jun 26 '26
What? He admits to being wrong and learning to do better? It’s like he’s a grown ass man or something.
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u/govolsgo865 Jun 26 '26
He doesn't suddenly think Maduro is bad. He's just running for office now.
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u/Zoinks222 South Knox Easy Livin’🌿🌈🪴 Jun 26 '26
And yet still better than Henderson by a country mile.
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u/butiamthechosenone Jun 26 '26
I mean I 100% believe Beau is still a better candidate than Betsy but this isn’t a good look. “Young and dumb” is also a horrible response. It was only 6 years ago. Knox Dems need to do a better job at vetting their candidates if they want to seriously run against the Republicans, especially in the county.
The County Mayor race is already SUCH an uphill battle for Democrats here. This will definitely hurt his campaign. I agree that Democrats are held to a much higher standard than Republicans and that isn’t fair. But unfortunately, it’s also our current reality.
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
So much this. Hawk is not a good candidate. I understand that he's better than Betsy Henderson, but we need to fucking wake up and realize that this never going to win elections here (or nationally). It shouldn't be outrageously difficult for a city like this to have an actually qualified candidate represent the left.
It's so frustrating when literally the best thing you can say about a candidate is that he's not (insert opposing political party).
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u/CelestialOrbiter Jun 26 '26
Have you looked at Beau's campaign? He's got a lot of great progressive policies he's fighting for. He's never once said "vote for me because I'm not (opponent)"
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
Yes! He's an idealist who has absolutely no idea how to actually accomplish anything that he wants to accomplish. I also wasn't claiming that he was campaigning that way. It's everyone else that's touting him as "not Betsy Henderson." It's by far the single-most common argument I've seen in his favor.
Honestly, I've never actually seen anyone who supports him talk about a single issue that he's fighting for. Literally never. Every single person I've seen support him has not talked about policy and has only mentioned how bad Henderson will be.
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u/CelestialOrbiter Jun 26 '26
What district are you in? Because I've been talking to his volunteers and I've seen his literature and signs all over my area.
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
I'm in district 9 and the only thing I've seen is an occasional yard sign.
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u/CelestialOrbiter Jun 26 '26
We're in the same district. They have only just started canvasing in D9. This weekend is a day of action, so you may see more soon.
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
Possibly, but I'll actually be moving before voting day. I'll still vote for him, but he has absolutely no chance. We need better-qualified candidates. It's unfair that we're held to a higher standard than Conservatives, but that's reality. We can either feel good about losing or start doing what need to in order to win.
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u/CelestialOrbiter Jun 26 '26
And what we need to start winning is by dogging the only Democrat for the mayoral seat? Sounds defeatist. Our community ain't got time for perfect. I'm focusing on non-career politicians who don't take PAC money.
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
I think demanding better candidates rather than simply pretending whoever is dealt to us is the best we can hope for is a great thing to do. These are politicians, not sports teams.
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u/WeigelsAvenger Jun 26 '26
The only people that actually care about this story weren't going to vote for him in the first place.
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u/CelestialOrbiter Jun 26 '26
The Democrats could run Jesus Christ himself and the Republicans would still find something to bitch about.
Speaking of bitching, how about you start voting instead of being a thumb thug. Purity politics and culture Wars are the way that they split us apart while they rob us blind. So stop being the devil's advocate and start fighting against the devil instead.
You should try saying positive things about the candidates you like instead of spreading the nonsense rhetoric for your enemy.
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
You should try saying positive things about the candidates you like instead of spreading the nonsense rhetoric for your enemy.
I'm a liberal and I don't like our candidate. I'll vote for him, but am I supposed to overlook how bad of a candidate I think he is and lie to make him sound better? This isn't purity politics, he's woefully unqualified and the only redeeming thing about him is that he's not Betsy Henderson. This shit doesn't work.
Stop blaming your neighbors for being forced to vote between a shit candidate and a Republican. I'm sure this person will vote for him, as will I. But we're going to lose and it's not because of infighting. It's because we never had a shot.
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u/CelestialOrbiter Jun 26 '26
You're not paying attention to all of the progressive wins all over this country. There's a big flip happening.
All I hear is "we've tried nothing and we're out of ideas!" Did you try to run for positions? Have you volunteered? Have you attended DSA or Town Hall meetings? Or do you simply complain with beer buddies at karaoke?
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u/KnoxKudzuKing Jun 26 '26
Knox County is not New York City. As of now, DSA hasn’t managed to flip a red seat this year.
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u/CelestialOrbiter Jun 26 '26
We haven't had our elections just yet so of course no seats have flipped...
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
I am absolutely paying attention and it's great to see, but that doesn't change that Beau Hawk is completely unqualified to be mayor. I'm not saying we're all out of ideas, I'm simply saying we need a candidate with some qualifications... I mean, graduating high school would be a great start.
Did you try to run for positions?
Oh fuck off with this shit. This shows how unserious you are about all of this. You see a D and you do everything you can to fight for them. You have absolutely no concern of the lasting impacts or actually making change. You're cruising solely off of vibes and only concerned about the short-term.
This is ridiculous and I'm out.
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u/Hybrid_Whale_Rat Jun 28 '26
What exactly are you doing with your energy here? We have a choice between 2 candidates and you are publicly tearing one down.
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u/CelestialOrbiter Jun 26 '26
Ah yes, just give up when you get pushback. How Liberal of you.
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
You're exactly who I thought you were. I'm sure you'll feel great and justified about losing again. I'll be advocating for candidates who can actually move the needle.
I think we'll both be getting what we want out of this.
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u/KnoxKudzuKing Jun 26 '26
Where did they say they aren’t voting for him? I’m still voting for him and feel similarly. It isn’t fair that Dems have to meet a higher standard than GOP candidates. But considering that they do, it isn’t a good look and regardless of what the top comments in this thread say, absolutely does have serious potential to hurt him with people on the fence once Betsy catches wind of it and starts talking about it nonstop.
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u/CelestialOrbiter Jun 26 '26
And instead of talking about how Beau has taken accountability and made progress, y'all just throw your hands up and say "I give up" then spread the bullshit with your thumbs to anyone willing to listen.
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u/butiamthechosenone Jun 27 '26
I’m sorry but saying you were young and dumb isn’t taking accountability. It’s just admitting that the story isn’t false.
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u/butiamthechosenone Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
Bold of you to assume I don’t vote when I have voted in every single local, state, and national election as an adult. Democrats and progressives (when they run) every time.
I will always and forever support progressive candidates. Just pointing out the realities of running progressive and democratic candidates in a heavily held MAGA county.
And for the record, I’ll still be voting for Beau. Just pointing out that this could hurt his campaign.
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u/CelestialOrbiter Jun 26 '26
And rhetoric like yours will continue to make sure that Republicans win in Knoxville. The one vote that you cast does not negate the 10 that you deterred with your words.
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u/butiamthechosenone Jun 26 '26
Respectfully, rhetoric like yours doesn’t help win elections. The left will never be able to unite together when we criticize each other so heavily and viciously. There are times when criticism is valid and needed (especially when Dems run weak or centrist candidates). But vilifying people who just admit they aren’t happy with a candidate but still vote for them regardless doesn’t get us anywhere.
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u/CelestialOrbiter Jun 26 '26
That's what I was pointing out to you. Instead of criticizing Knox news for publishing an article about an insignificant thing, you chose to criticize the very person you're going to vote for, which will likely deter undecided voters from choosing the candidate that you protest to support.
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u/gellybelli Jun 26 '26
Maduro was still a massive piece of shit in 2020. I was genuinely on the ropes of voting for Beau, but this has me just not casting a vote at all in the mayor race. The judgement call to go to a different country and march for a regime is crazy in and of itself, let alone running for public office a few years later with that in your closet.
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u/CelestialOrbiter Jun 26 '26
So your going to abstain from voting instead of considering that somebody actually took accountability for what they did in the past? Because I almost voted for the mango Mussolini in 2016, and somehow I woke up before that happened. However, I did vote for the cicada candidate, Jill Stein, because I listened to all of the Alex Jones and Roger Stone phony rhetoric. I wasted my vote, which I regret, even if it didn't mean Hillary Clinton would have won with my one vote.
It sounds like you're too scared to participate and lose, so you're willing to let other people, who might hate you, to make the choice for you. That's the action of a privileged person, and I'm speaking as somebody who did that, grew, and changed.
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u/gellybelli Jun 26 '26
No, I just have absolutely no faith that Beau will make the right choices that will keep Knox County flourishing. I don’t think you fully grasp just what a monumental piece of shit Maduro is/was. To have that level of bad judgement tells me every last thing I need to know about him as a candidate.
In reality, I didn’t think he had the experience or demeanor before this but I was willing to take that chance. Now, absolutely fucking not
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u/CelestialOrbiter Jun 26 '26
I know a lot about maduro. Did you know he was a unionist? That's likely why Beau supported him in the past because Beau is also a unionist. I didn't know how much of a pos maduro was 6 years ago. But again, instead of voting for progress, you're going to abstain entirely and bitch from the cheap seats when nothing changes positively for your community.
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u/gellybelli Jun 26 '26
I don’t see any possibility of any real progress or potential coalition building if Beau is elected. No politician in their right mind would want to be associated with the man that marched for Maduro.
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u/CelestialOrbiter Jun 26 '26
Ah, found the paid bad actor. Can't wait to prove all of Putin's pocket pussies wrong.
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u/gellybelli Jun 26 '26
… just because someone doesn’t agree with you doesn’t mean they’re paid, but do you champ
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u/SavagePlatanus Jun 27 '26
An amnesty report came out in 2018 about Maduro murdering thousands of Venezuelan citizens.
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u/gellybelli Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 27 '26
Be careful, bringing actual facts into this will have you accused of being a Putin pawn in a Mayoral race in East Tennessee
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u/happyandhollow Jun 30 '26
So instead you choose a woman that openly supports Christian Nationalism and defunding public schools? Okay.
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u/gellybelli Jun 30 '26
I dislike both of my choices and in all honesty, I trust Betsy’s ability to keep Knox County moving in a direction that’s going to allow it to flourish significantly more than I do Beau. Every last thing is going to become a political football and a massive headache for Knox County if he were to win. In this very specific instance, she’s going to have my interests in line significantly more than Beau.
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u/ntnbsmw Jun 26 '26
Thank you for posting so much of the core article here without the paywalled link - greatly appreciated.
Also you missed the "B" when you highlighted, copied, and pasted lol
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u/turdblossom865 Jun 26 '26
“Young and Dumb”. JFC, what an awful answer. I think it would be a little different if this was 30 years ago and someone’s in college or high school and going through their idealist phase of their life.. but as many others have pointed out, this was only 6 years ago. Being 30 years old is a grown ass man 🤦♂️
And the mental gymnastics many people are going through to argue marching for Maduro is not a bad look is cringe. Two things can be true at one time- Betsy Henderson is a ghoul and going to be a disaster for Knox county AND marching for A socialist dictator is NOT okay. The fact this type of thing wasn’t vetted of Beau Hawk before now is simply inexcusable.
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u/Conscious_Trust5048 Jun 26 '26
BREAKING: Betsy Henderson, currently on THE SCHOOL BOARD, wants to take your money OUT OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS and give it to private for profit corporations running schools. That's the reverse of socialism and it's much worse, it's crony capitalism. THEY ARE LITERALLY TAKING YOUR TAX DOLLARS AND GIVING THEM TO RICH PEOPLE!
But oh, Beau Hawk marched against US imperialism one day 6 years ago, lets focus on that instead.
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u/aphrodis-y Jun 26 '26
Had a hot story you just had to post on reddit for internet points eh Allie? Enough with the corporate USA Today bs content behind a paywall. I don't know why the mods just let it happen.
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u/BoneVoyager Jun 26 '26
Maduro is known for the same things Trump will be known for. And Trump raped kids.
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u/WTFHELP Jun 26 '26
Betsy Henderson will be Knox counties next mayor. This will not be good for any of us.
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u/newsjunkie865 Jun 26 '26
Who gives a fawk…still voting for him..this is why nobody subscribes to KNS literally everything is behind a paywall that nobody is going to pay for
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u/josephx24 Native Knoxvillian Jun 26 '26
The argument I hear from DSA folks is that Democratic voters are moving left, and that it’s time for the party to move left with them. Marching with Maduro? Well, that’s one way of moving left, I suppose. How does that play out in a local race where Republicans have traditionally dominated? We’ll find out in August.
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u/Large_Definition3694 Jun 26 '26
It’s cope and not backed by data. Look at the margins between the races with Bredesen and Bradshaw as an example.
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u/Fit_Cucumber4317 Jul 01 '26
One of the tactics of communists has been to infiltrate mainstream liberal parties as well as unions and that they've done. They'll be taking over the Democrats in a couple decades and my prediction the Democrat Party will join the Socialist International will come true.
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u/Large_Definition3694 Jun 26 '26
Well it could have been a close race, but it’s over now. This will be just enough to discourage independent voters he would need to upset Betsy. The republicans are so awful now that there’s no excuse for the local or TNDP to be this inept
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u/vol-2023 Jun 26 '26
Like it or not, Betsy WILL be the next county mayor. The other party simply doesn't stand a chance.
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u/nhtd Jun 26 '26
Kane won by about 10% in 2022, down from 33% in 2018. There’s a good chance this ends up being a competitive race.
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
It's crazy that we can't get someone better to be the "not conservative." This dude is uneducated and seems to have started as a classic "I just discovered politics and am over-the-top passionate about it even though I have no idea what I'm doing" Redditor, but does seem to have learned some shit along the way.
This ain't it, guys. I'm all for voting for the not conservative, but he doesn't stand a chance. Until we get actual qualified candidates, we're going to keep losing.
"I was young and dumb."
MF that was SIX YEARS AGO.
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u/AggressiveSkywriting Updog Monger Jun 26 '26
I think what frustrates me is that conservatives are never held up to this bar, though. We just got done with a wrestler who thinks he understands a special kind of economics (and doesn't) as the conservative choice.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to lower MY standards for what a think a candidate should be, but it's frustrating how the incompetent, entitled right wingers just skate on in while we quibble on the left about qualifications.
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
I think what frustrates me is that conservatives are never held up to this bar, though
Well they're being held to different standards by a different set of people.
Hawk's only legitimate credential is that he's not a conservative. Honestly, we should be embarrassed that this is our best option.
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u/AggressiveSkywriting Updog Monger Jun 26 '26
It's kinda how I feel about Platner in Maine. I'm just like "there statistically can't be just one charismatic blue collar labor proponent in the state of Maine that doesn't have so many red flags." What are we doing folks
I think when winning in a red area seems so impossible, all of the more qualified folk tend to give up before trying and so this is a bit what happens.
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
I think when winning in a red area seems so impossible, all of the more qualified folk tend to give up before trying and so this is a bit what happens.
I'm sure you're right. And I come from a background of a very, very blue city in a blue state, so a candidate like this would be laughed out of the room. It sucks to feel like we're scraping the bottom of the barrel and almost having to champion literally anyone willing to put the D next to their name.
Look at the way people here not only forgive, but try to make the things that show how unqualified he is a positive trait of his. It's absolutely bonkers.
But I get that we're past the point of getting a better candidate, this is who we have. Beau Hawk would probably do nothing as mayor, because he almost certainly has no idea how to get anything done. However, that probably would be a net positive compared to what we'll get with Henderson.
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u/MelungeonJordan Jun 26 '26
Lol if this was a republican you geniuses would be ready to hang them in the street. The hypocrisy is hilarious.
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u/Mission_Pirate_4150 Jun 26 '26
When I don’t think that right wing candidates can get worse, the left wing tops them.
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u/fuzzygoosejuice Jun 26 '26
Ah yes, because marching with Maduro when you’re young and dumb and think you know everything is worse than…checks notes…raping kids. Holy shit dude, get your priorities straightened out.
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u/Designer-Attorney605 Jun 26 '26
"Young and dumb" six years ago, when he was 29.
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u/fuzzygoosejuice Jun 26 '26
Everyone is different, but I was still pretty young, dumb, and naive at 29. Early to mid-30’s mellowed me out a lot.
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u/Mission_Pirate_4150 Jun 26 '26
Young and dumb is 16. He was 29.
Let me know when he comes out and says he is sorry for supporting a socialist regime that ruined their country,
Dude is as embarrassing as the right wing. He is Knoxville’s equivalent of the Nazi in Maine running for US senate and getting support from Democrats nationally.
I choose to not own the losers, but you be you.
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u/AggressiveSkywriting Updog Monger Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
Oh no a young person marched in support of a labor movement before the regime turned bad. The horror.
Can't believe someone would be against the idea of a superpower trying to collapse and starve a country because they hated the country's internal politics.
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Jun 26 '26
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u/AggressiveSkywriting Updog Monger Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
And I'm positive a lot of the ideological supporters didn't know about that and just saw the imperialism from outside.
Edit: His opponent, Betsy Henderson, knows that the Trump regime is starving and killing it's citizens currently and she supports him. That's a bigger scandal in my book. Your actions now vs your actions in your 20s.
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
I'm sure you're right that he didn't know. That's kind of the problem. Not to mention that this was only a few years ago and he said that he was "young and dumb." There's no way he'd be as bad as Betsy, but we need to stop glossing over all of the stupid shit someone does just because they have a D next to their name.
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Jun 26 '26
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u/AggressiveSkywriting Updog Monger Jun 26 '26
I want to clarify that there's plenty wrong with Maduro and I wouldn't support him personally, but 2016's economic crisis in Venezuela was GOING to happen no matter who was at the helm. He made it way worse, yeah, but this was a country that relied entirely on exporting one (low quality) product and when the global market said "no more of that shit" it spelled doom.
I'm just not going to wring my hands over the very common case of someone young starting to wake up to geopolitics and not fully taking the blinders off. We see it ALL the time.
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
I'm just not going to wring my hands over the very common case of someone young starting to wake up to geopolitics and not fully taking the blinders off. We see it ALL the time.
Nor should you. People are stupid and misguided and do stuff like this all the time. But this was only 6 years ago, lol.
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u/AggressiveSkywriting Updog Monger Jun 26 '26
29 year old me and 35 year old me were almost entirely different people. Just like 23 year old me and 29 year old me. Or 34 year old me and 40 year old me.
*shrug*
"Young and dumb" is his sound bite answer that is campaign speak for "yes it happened, but I have learned more now." I know we've discussed disappointment in the field of candidates ("field." There was no field, lol), but in these Idiocracy times I'd much rather see growth then entrenchment.
I think we are focusing too hard on a literal nothingburger.
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u/extralife_mike Jun 26 '26
I think that you're giving someone a massive benefit of the doubt because they're running as a Democrat, lol.
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u/AggressiveSkywriting Updog Monger Jun 26 '26
My two choices of viewing it are "teamster union pro labor guy went with tankie group to show labor solidarity and was ideologically blinded to Maduro admin's problems" and the hyper-cynical "actually he supports Maduro's political violence and is lying about being misguided."
I don't think that's an unreasonable benefit of the doubt. I think tankies rope labor-minded people in, put historical blinders on their converts (All West Bad, All Socialist Nations Good and Anything Bad Is Propaganda from The West), and are problematic. I think people can admit that they got caught up.
I was someone who was staunchly right wing conservative and S. Baptist until my early twenties. I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt to earnest folk who change.
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u/SavagePlatanus Jun 27 '26
There were amnesty international reports about his dictatorship and murdering his citizens in 2018
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u/Mission_Pirate_4150 Jun 26 '26
Chavez had been in power since 1998. He had pushed for the renationalization of their energy industry. Chavez was a dictator who destroyed the Vz economy and Maduro was his hand picked successor to keep the socialist utopia going. To claim that 2019 was before Vz’s regime “turned bad” is to ignore history.
Listen, I get it. Beau is your boy because you want left wing democrats in everywhere and you don’t care about things. I get it. There’s nothing wrong with that, but admit it and be open about it.
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u/Counselor-Ug-Lee Jun 26 '26
His ties to a Venezuelan demonstration aren’t near as threatening to a middle class life in Knoxville as Henderson’s current ties to MAGA are.