A resurfaced 2020 podcast clip of Democrat Aftyn Behn admitting “I hate the city, I hate the bachelorettes, I hate the pedal taverns, I hate country music” has blown up this week, and conservatives are right to smell a scandal. That kind of contempt for the people and culture of Middle Tennessee is not a small gaffe — it’s proof that some on the left have long rested their political ambitions on sneering at the voters they hope to represent.
Instead of letting local voters sort the issue out, national Democrats rushed in to prop her up, booking Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Al Gore, and other big-name liberals for a last-minute virtual rally to bail their candidate out. That move makes the whole thing worse: when your allies are AOC and career national Democrats, you’ve already signaled whose side you’re on, and it isn’t the small businesses and service workers who power Nashville.
Polling shows why the left is panicking: an Emerson College poll released during early voting finds this supposedly safe GOP district suddenly a dead heat, with Matt Van Epps ahead by just two points — well within the margin of error. Conservatives should take that as a wake-up call that even red districts can be vulnerable if voters get complacent and let national leftist money flood the race.
President Trump didn’t sit on the sidelines; he backed Matt Van Epps in the GOP primary and has helped mobilize the right’s response to this liberal play for a seat they couldn’t win on their own merits. The Republican machine and local leaders have every reason to turn out the vote hard this week, because leaving this kind of district to Democrats by default would be a self-inflicted wound for common-sense governance.
Behn’s camp has tried to walk back the remarks and insists she doesn’t hate the city she represents, even saying she was “conceived after a George Strait concert” and that the clips are being weaponized by panicking Republicans. That damage control is transparent and hollow to anyone who remembers her own rhetoric and activism — actions matter more than spin in a campaign.
Hardworking Tennesseans should be furious that coastal and radical figures are parachuting into their backyard to salvage a candidate who publicly disdains their way of life. This isn’t about policy nuance; it’s about respect, and Democrats keep proving they lack it for the culture and values that built communities like Nashville. Conservatives must push this point relentlessly and remind voters that representation starts with respect.
If Democrats want to turn Tennessee’s 7th into a national experiment for left-wing politics, they’re welcome to try — but the people of this district deserve leaders who actually love their communities, not ones who fundraise off disdain. Now is the moment for Republicans to organize, for neighbors to knock on doors, and for every patriot who believes in common-sense stewardship to show up at the polls.
For voters exhausted by the coastal elite’s contempt, this race is a simple test: will Tennesseans send someone to Washington who sneers at their music, their small businesses, and their way of life, or will they elect a champion who will defend traditional values and economic common sense? The answer will tell the country a lot about whether grassroots conservative resolve still matters in the face of nationalized, big-money blue operations.
