President Donald Trump spent the Thanksgiving holiday weekend trying to boost Republican turnout in a surprisingly close special election in Tennessee, and a White House reporter marveled at his attacks on the Democratic contender.
The president hyped GOP candidate Matt Van Epps in Tennessee's seventh congressional district race, where Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn is polling much closer than expected in a district Trump won convincingly in each of his three campaigns. USA Today correspondent Francesca Chambers highlighted one of his Truth Social posts.
"It's not every day that you see the president of the United States attack someone as hating country music as a reason not to vote for them," Chambers told "CNN This Morning." "No, that's what he said in his post – yes, yes. One of the things was, it was that she didn't like country music, which in Nashville is something that can really [hurt] you, honestly."
Behn, whose district includes Nashville, complained during a 2020 podcast appearance about tourist attractions that many residents and visitors regard as a nuisance, saying, “I hate the city, I hate the bachelorettes, I hate the pedal taverns, I hate country music – I hate all of the things that make Nashville apparently an ‘it’ city to the rest of the country.”
"Matt is fighting against a woman who hates Christianity, will take away your guns, wants Open Borders, Transgender for everybody, men in women’s sports, and openly disdains Country music," Trump posted on Truth Social. "She said all of these things precisely, and without question — IT’S ON TAPE! Do not take this Race for granted. The Radical Left Democrats are spending a fortune to beat one of the best Candidates we’ve ever had."
Behn has clarified that she gets "mad at the bachelorettes sometimes," as well as the pedal taverns, but tried to reassure voters that country music is meaningful to her, and Chambers offered an explanation for why she's polling so much stronger than Democrats who ran in that district in the 2024 election.
"On the affordabilityargument though, there is thisnegative voter sentimentnationwide about the economythat has carried over since lastyear, and they're still veryupset, including with thepresident of United States," Chambers said. "Manypeople blaming the sittingpresident. So will this onceagain be a potential referendumon those policies? It will beagain, tough, given how manypoints Donald Trump won thisdistrict by."