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State Senator Stacey Campfield, a Republican, confirmed that
he sent a public Facebook message on Thursday that said, “so, Do
YOU have any comments now?” to Cari Wade Gervin, a former
government reporter for Knoxville’s Metro Pulse.
Gervin, along with the entire staff of the 23-year-old
alternative weekly newspaper, was laid off this week by the
Knoxville News Sentinel, owned by E.W. Scripps Co.
Campfield and Gervin had a rivalry dating back years, with
Gervin’s paper often reporting on Campfield, who once equated
Obamacare to the Nazis and for sponsoring anti-gay legislation.
“It’s just sad because he’s attacking me at this awful time.
He’s just doing it because he wants attention before he leaves
office,” said a tearful Gervin, 37, who has worked at the paper
for four years.
Campfield, who recently lost a contentious primary race for his
seat in Knoxville, served as a lightning rod for controversy
during his roughly 10 years of public service as both a
representative and a senator in the Tennessee legislature.
Campfield said on Friday that Gervin had lied about him in the
past.
“Do I care about someone who lost their job lying about me? No,”
he told Reuters.
(Reporting by Les Neuhaus in Knoxville; Editing by Brendan
O'Brien and Eric Beech)
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