Trump claims Democrat candidate Aftyn Behn 'hates Christianity'
Trump made claims about Behn’s views and urged Tennessee voters to back Van Epps in the special election.

SOURCE CHECK
TAP FOR WHYThe Christian Post is an established, named religious-news publisher, and this article identifies its reporter and attributes key claims. Its specialized editorial focus and the article’s limited range of sources keep the assessment below that of a major general-news outlet.
- Source type — Recorded as national news; an established outlet with a religious-news focus.
- Author attribution — A named reporter is credited, with contact information.
- Transparency — The article attributes Trump’s claims, identifies the polling organization, and notes that Behn’s campaign did not respond by publication.
- Editorial standards — The specialized editorial focus warrants some caution when assessing the outlet’s framing.
The article supplies attributed quotations, campaign context and specific poll figures, while distinguishing Trump’s assertions from Behn’s recorded comments. It includes little direct response from Behn’s campaign and relies on one poll, limiting the range of perspectives and evidence.
HOW WE SCORE ↗The article gives substantial space to Trump’s accusation and the recordings cited to support it, while also presenting Behn’s later response and polling context. Behn’s campaign did not directly respond to the central claim, leaving the account somewhat weighted toward the attack.
- Counterarguments presented — Behn’s response to older comments is included, but her campaign did not respond directly to Trump’s claim about Christianity.
- Source diversity — The report draws on the candidates’ public statements and a poll, but offers no direct campaign comment from Behn’s side.
- Loaded language — The most charged language is quoted and attributed to Trump rather than stated in the reporter’s voice.
- Omitted context — The article provides election and district context but limited direct discussion of Behn’s views beyond the cited clips.
The article attributes Trump’s accusation, describes the recordings he cited, and includes Behn’s response to older comments. Its account reads as straight election reporting without clear editorial endorsement of either candidate.
- Language tone — The report largely uses neutral, attributed language and presents the accusation as Trump’s claim.
- Source selection — It includes Trump’s statements, Behn’s recorded words and her video response, though her campaign did not provide a comment.
- Framing — The story frames the remarks within the special-election campaign and polling rather than adopting the accusation as fact.
Donald Trump urged Tennessee voters to reject Democratic candidate Aftyn Behn, claiming she “hates Christianity” and backing Republican Matt Van Epps in the Dec. 2 special election. A poll cited in the article showed Van Epps leading Behn 48% to 46% ahead of a race that could affect the House majority.
Trump made the claim during a phone call with House Speaker Mike Johnson, who was campaigning for Van Epps, and in a Truth Social post urging voters to support the Republican. The article reports that Trump’s claim about Christianity appeared to stem from a clip of Behn discussing legislative prayer and religious influence. It also recounts older comments in which Behn criticized country music and her later video response saying those comments did not reflect her views about Nashville. Her campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Trump’s assertion.
An Emerson College poll of 600 likely voters found 48% planned to support Van Epps and 46% Behn. The article says the special election would fill the vacancy left by former Representative Mark Green’s resignation; a Behn victory would add one member to Democrats’ House total and reduce Republicans’ narrow majority.
Community verdict
8 VOTESCounts every outlet’s report of this story. See all 4
- Readers of left-leaning coverage: 17% good look
- Readers of right-leaning coverage: not enough votes yet
Votes cast on this page
Votes cast on this page: ▲ 0 · ◆ 0 · ▼ 0
People in this story
SWIPE →President who attacked Behn and urged voters to support Van Epps
Democratic candidate in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District special election
Behn's version of this story ↗Former Tennessee representative whose resignation created the vacancy
Speaker of the House campaigning for Van Epps
Republican candidate in the special election
Part of a bigger story
4 OUTLETSTrump urged Tennessee voters to back Republican Matt Van Epps in the special election and accused Democrat Aftyn Behn of hating Christianity. Left-leaning outlets frame Trump's intervention as a false accusation and focus on his role in the race. Right-leaning outlets present the accusation as part of the case against Behn, though one emphasizes a resurfaced video and another uses attributed language and includes her response.
- ARTICLES
- 4
- OUTLETS
- 4
- AVG CRED
- 58
- Crooks and Liars · Trump Phones In: Aftyn Behn Hates Christianity And Country Music
- Blaze Media · Trump torches Nashville-hating Democrat for string of scandals: 'How the hell can you elect a person like that?'
- Yahoo News · Trump launches attack on Nashville Democrat for 'hating Christianity and country music'
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