Nashville News Blog

Kent Williams says he was "really shocked" on the day of his election as House speaker when GOP chair Robin Smith approached the podium and called him the devil.

"Her exact words were, 'Congratulations speaker. It's hard to kill the devil but in two years, you're a dead man.'

"That's a pretty harsh statement," Williams told reporters after Smith expelled him from the party this morning. He said it made him "feel cheated" of his big moment in the sun.

To the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Smith denies she called Williams the devil. She says she was talking to Jimmy Naifeh at the time. "That is an absolute lie," she says of Williams' account of what happened. She didn't approach the podium at all, she says, but looked Naifeh "straight in the eye" from the House floor. "I just mouthed the words, 'It's hard to kill the devil.'"

She said, "Kent Williams continues to try to personalize this."

Here's more from Williams:

"I'll probably run again. I can become a Democrat and win speaker of the House but I probably couldn't get elected in my community, but I'm not Democrat. I am a Republican. I have 49 good Democrat friends down there but that's what it is , we're friends. Our philosophies are a little different on some issues. If I'm forced I'll become an independent, but it's a long time until the election. We could have some changes. Hopefully we will some changes in our Tennessee GOP. Maybe we will have someone more level headed, someone who doesn't rule by hate."

Update: "My basic response was, 'Bring it on'," Williams says.

Update II: State GOP's Mark Winslow: "This is just more victimization from Williams. ... I think you heard today, Robin's determination that this not get personal."