{"id":112337,"date":"2025-12-02T11:52:33","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T16:52:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/van-epps-comes-out-swinging-against-aoc-of-tennessee-challenger-ahead-of-special-election-112337"},"modified":"2025-12-02T11:52:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T16:52:33","slug":"van-epps-comes-out-swinging-against-aoc-of-tennessee-challenger-ahead-of-special-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/van-epps-comes-out-swinging-against-aoc-of-tennessee-challenger-ahead-of-special-election-112337","title":{"rendered":"Van Epps comes out swinging against \u2018AOC of Tennessee\u2019 challenger ahead of special election"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Republican <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/scoop-trump-aligned-maga-inc-jumps-high-stakes-ballot-box-congressional-showdown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Matt Van Epps<\/a> came out swinging ahead of a high-stakes special election Tuesday, urging Tennesseans to &#8220;bundle up&#8221; and get to the polls while laying out what he called two distinct paths before voters in the state\u2019s 7th Congressional District.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The distinction between the two of us cannot be more clear,&#8221; he said on &#8220;Fox &amp; Friends,&#8221; drawing a sharp contrast with his Democratic opponent, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/dem-house-hopeful-vows-help-working-class-despite-record-hiking-taxes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Aftyn Behn<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m a Christian, a husband, a father, an America First conservative, a combat veteran. I served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a helicopter pilot, served in state government, led in small business, still serving in the National Guard\u2026&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Behn, a progressive Democrat dubbed the &#8220;AOC of Tennessee&#8221; by some, has come under fire for resurfaced comments <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/nashville\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">disparaging Nashville<\/a> and since-deleted social media posts calling to dissolve the city\u2019s police department.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/dem-house-hopeful-getting-yanked-from-governors-office-during-attempted-sit-in-goes-viral-ahead-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>DEM HOUSE HOPEFUL GETTING YANKED FROM GOVERNOR&#8217;S OFFICE DURING ATTEMPTED SIT-IN GOES VIRAL AHEAD OF ELECTION<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The candidates are seeking to replace former Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn.<strong>,<\/strong> who resigned from Congress earlier this year to take a private-sector job.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The district, currently red, includes parts of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/nashville\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>Democratic stronghold of Nashville<\/u><\/a> \u2014 Tennessee\u2019s capital and most populous city.<\/p>\n<p>During his appearance Tuesday, Van Epps pushed back on Behn\u2019s claim that he hasn\u2019t addressed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/opinion\/its-not-just-economy-how-democrats-beat-gop-across-country\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">affordability<\/a> \u2014 a key issue in recent elections, including the 2024 presidential race and the New York City mayoral contest, where both winners campaigned on lowering costs.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/tennessee-candidate-blasts-dem-opponents-unacceptable-tweets-calling-dissolve-nashville-police\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TENNESSEE CANDIDATE BLASTS DEM OPPONENT\u2019S \u2018UNACCEPTABLE\u2019 TWEETS CALLING TO DISSOLVE NASHVILLE POLICE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Her statements are just not true,&#8221; Van Epps said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve been talking about affordability pretty frequently, about housing and healthcare, about energy,&#8221; he added, pointing to his support for expanding nuclear power, increasing healthcare transparency and boosting access to affordable housing near major job centers.<\/p>\n<p>Van Epps argued those proposals stand in sharp contrast to Behn\u2019s platform, which he characterized as a push for &#8220;new and higher taxes&#8221; backed by progressive groups. Behn, for her part, has maintained that Republican attacks on her past comments are meant to distract from what she says is the real issue for voters: the rising cost of living in Tennessee.<\/p>\n<p>When asked to comment on the controversy surrounding Behn&#8217;s resurfaced comments criticizing Nashville, campaign manager Kate Briefs previously provided Fox News Digital with the following statement:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Republicans are panicking and in a last ditched attempt, they are distracting from the fact that Washington Republicans and Matt Van Epps are raising costs on Tennessee families and ripping away their health care while Aftyn Behn will lower Tennessee families&#8217; costs and make groceries more affordable by eliminating the state&#8217;s grocery tax.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><i>Fox News&#8217; Madison Colombo and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/van-epps-comes-out-swinging-against-aoc-tennessee-challenger-ahead-special-election\">Source &#8211; https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/van-epps-comes-out-swinging-against-aoc-tennessee-challenger-ahead-special-election <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republican Matt Van Epps came out swinging ahead of a high-stakes special election Tuesday, urging Tennesseans to &#8220;bundle up&#8221; and get to the polls while [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_2902945987_2902945987":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[16563],"tags":[],"stock_ticker":[],"class_list":["post-112337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - 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