'Can we just go set Marsha Blackburn on fire:' Nashville school board member caught on hot mic

A Nashville school board member is under scrutiny for provocative comments after a hot-mic moment at a meeting last week.

During a break in a March 22 meeting, board member Sharon Gentry was heard criticizing U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn — the district's own senator — over her questioning of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.

"Can we just go set Marsha Blackburn on fire?" Gentry said as other board members praised Jackson.

Blackburn is among many Republican lawmakers who have garnered attention for her questioning of President Joe Biden's Supreme Court nominee during confirmation hearings last week.

The first-term Tennessee senator asked Jackson to define a "woman" and ahead of the hearings called a landmark Supreme Court case about access to contraception "constitutionally unsound" while criticizing Jackson's nomination to the high court.

Other members of the heavily Democratic Nashville board didn't appear to question Gentry's comments and the board meeting quickly resumed.

A Blackburn spokesperson said in a statement the comments show the hypocrisy of comments by the Biden administration and teachers’ unions calling parents who voice concerns at school board meetings “domestic terrorists."

“Violent rhetoric has no place in political discourse," the spokesperson said.

Gentry did not immediately return a request for comment from The Tennessean.

A spokesperson for Metro Nashville Public schools declined to comment for this story.

Board members behaving badly

Gentry isn't the first board member to get flack for off-color comments aimed at public officials and parents.

Some constituents have criticized board members for their condescending, scolding tones and their rude interactions. The board has a long history of dysfunction and condemnation from the public.

Board chair Christiane Buggs was criticized recently and accused of threatening community members after a particularly raucous public comment period last month.

Buggs paused the meeting and had security clear the room with board members later noting they felt intimidated as a few commentators lobbed threats at Director Adrienne Battle.

"For those of you who think that you will come in here and intimidate my director, intimidate my colleagues, stare us down, we all have husbands and brothers and dads, so stay safe," Buggs said. "If you’re feeling froggy and you feel like you want to jump, don’t do it here."

Related: 'Terrorism and hate crimes': School boards say death threats, unruly meetings require FBI

Board member Gini Pupo-Walker earned her own criticism during the same meeting after dropping an f-bomb during an outburst for which she later apologized.

Last year, the Metropolitan Nashville Education Association, the local teacher's union, filed an ethics complaint against board member Fran Bush after she told teachers to "quit your day job" if they didn't want to return to in-person learning last school year.

Some say these comments mirror the increasingly divisive and partisan political landscape elected officials find themselves in.

Morgan Barth, the co-founder of the parent advocacy group Let Nashville Parents Choose, said he is concerned when board members are dismissive or make unfair assumptions about the motives of parents who are bringing concerns to the board.

"Some of these same board members have not shown the public the same courtesy that they expect to be shown," Barth said. "At the very least, board members should follow the policies MNPS expects of staff and students. In a school, one wouldn’t be permitted to swear or threaten without a consequence."

Ultimately, voters will have the final say on what they are willing to accept from elected officials and the board itself determines how to handle ethics complaints and very few have ever been filed. Gentry is not up for re-election until 2024.

Reporter Melissa Brown contributed to this report.

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Adam Friedman is The Tennessean's state government and politics reporter. Reach him by email at afriedman@tennessean.com.

Meghan Mangrum covers education for the USA TODAY Network — Tennessee. Contact her at mmangrum@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter @memangrum.

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Marsha Blackburn insult: Nashville school board member on hot mic