Members of Democratic Senate candidate Phil Bredesen's campaign team privately said he would not have voted to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, despite the candidate stating on Friday that he would have.
An undercover journalist for Project Veritas spoke to several staffers working for the Bredesen's campaign. He said he supported President Donald Trump's nominee after the Senate's bitter confirmation battle, which has angered Democrats who wanted to see him voted down.
"I was so confused because I just can't believe [Bredesen] would actually vote yes," the undercover journalist said to Will Stewart, a field organizer for the campaign.
"He wouldn't, but he's saying he would," Steward replied.
Later in the video, Stewart and another staffer, Chandler Burdgess, said the point of claiming he would vote to confirm Kavanaugh is to win over moderate Republicans.
The journalist also asked James Miller, who oversees voter protection for the campaign, about whether Bredesen would vote for Kavanaugh.
"I don't think so," Miller responded.
While discussing recent polls showing Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R.) with a widening lead, a staffer named Maria Amalla said Bredesen "thought that by coming out in support that it would get more Republicans on his side. He wasn't doing as well in the rural parts."
In a separate clip with Stewart, the journalist asks if Bredesen would lose voters by saying he would not have confirmed Kavanaugh.
"Oh, straight up, yeah," Stewart said.
"Are the people of Tennessee that ignorant?" journalist asked.
"Yeah," Stewart replied.
At another point in the video, Stewart discussed how the campaign modifies its messaging to voters.
"We don't, we don't say that out of these walls. But here, of course, we talk about that. Because it's so funny. The messaging is like, don't talk about blue wave. We're not running against Trump. All this sort of stuff. Even though that's all why we're all here, we can't put it out there," Stewart said.
At the end of the video, Stewart assures the journalist that Bredesen will act like a "good Democrat" if elected.
"Between you and me, once Phil actually gets into the Senate, he'll be a good Democrat," Stewart said.
Last Friday, Bredesen said he would support Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court. His decision angered some liberals, including progressive group MoveOn, which announced it was pulling a six-figure digital video ad expenditure for Bredesen as a result. The candidate said his decision was based on the lack of evidence.
"This is one where there’s no politically good answer. No matter what you say, half of the people out there are going to be unhappy about it. I’m hoping that people will understand the reasoning that went through," Bredesen said about Kavanaugh.
"I really want to emphasize what I said that I thought that Dr. Ford was a heroine," he added about Christine Blasey Ford, a California professor who testified that Kavanaugh attempted to sexually assault her when they were in high school.
Singer Taylor Swift has endorsed Bredesen.