Chevy Tahoes unload outside the Four Seasons while a cluster of linebackers mills around the lobby. If the matching black suits weren’t enough, they have earpieces with curly cords, a dead giveaway that some Very Important People will be doing Very Important Things here in Nashville this weekend.
While this reporter waits for an $18 charred avocado salad, the hotel restaurant slowly becomes a sea of golf polos and Lilly Pulitzer for lunch.
“Top security over here,” one diner tells her server, smiling politely. “We’re part of all that craziness.”
At the next table, an aproned waiter explains Broadway as a "fun nightlife option" to an elderly couple dressed for Florida.
On Monday, Politico reported that top Republicans would address their benefactors at an “RNC donor retreat” in Nashville this weekend. They noted the embarrassing timing for a party whose local supermajority just used its absolute power to kick out two young Black Democratic legislators, Justin Jones of Nashville and Justin Pearson of Memphis, both of whom were promptly reappointed by their local legislative bodies.
A day later, local florist FLWR Shop publicly refused to service the event, triggering news hits from Fox News, which slammed the small business for its politically motivated perversion of the free market. (Does no one remember the wedding cake?)
Festivities kick off with an official welcome from Gov. Bill Lee Friday at 5:30 p.m. Former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Sen. Rick Scott will tag-team dinner entertainment. Breakfast Saturday comes with a speech from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, followed by a panel featuring U.S. Rep. Steve Daines of Montana and Tennessee's U.S. Sens. Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn, who, like Lee, can boost their party profile as this weekend’s hosts.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu covers Saturday lunch before handing over the mic to indicted former President Donald Trump Saturday evening.
Some Nashvillians are planning a pro-gun-reform rally Friday evening on the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge in opposition of the RNC event.
