Trump launches attack on Nashville Democrat for 'hating Christianity and country music'
Trump used a Truth Social post to attack Behn and urge voters to support Van Epps.

SOURCE CHECK
TAP FOR WHYCredibility rates Yahoo News, which republished this story. The other scores rate the article itself.
Yahoo News is an established national news platform, and this article has a named author and attributes key statements to their sources. The page provides limited information here about the reporting process or corrections practices.
- Source type — An established national news platform, though its pages can carry material from multiple sources.
- Author attribution — A named author is credited.
- Transparency — The article attributes quotes and campaign-spending figures, but the page provides little additional reporting-method detail.
- Editorial standards — No specific corrections or editorial-policy information is evident in the article text.
The article attributes Trump’s claims to his post and includes Behn’s response and the earlier remarks that appear to have prompted the attack. It gives some election context and campaign-spending figures, but does not verify the policy claims in Trump’s post or include a response from Van Epps.
HOW WE SCORE ↗The article includes Trump’s full attack and Behn’s response, as well as background on the race. It does not assess the accuracy of the attack’s policy claims or include Van Epps’s perspective.
- Counterarguments presented — Behn’s explanation is included, but the article does not provide a direct response from Van Epps.
- Source diversity — The article draws on Trump’s post, Behn’s interview and campaign-spending information attributed to Mediaite.
- Omitted context — Trump’s claims about Behn’s policy positions are not independently checked.
- Loaded language — Most charged language is quoted or attributed to Trump; the narration is mostly straightforward.
The article is largely a straight account of Trump’s post and Behn’s response. Its description of the attack as a broadside and its mention of dissatisfaction with Trump’s first year add slight critical context, without making the piece overtly partisan.
- Language tone — Mostly attributed, reportorial language; calling the post a broadside adds a slight critical edge.
- Framing — The piece presents Trump’s attack alongside Behn’s explanation of the remarks it appears to reference.
- Omission — It does not test Trump’s allegations against Behn, but the article does not adopt them as fact.
Republished
Republished from The Independent. The relationship between the two publishers has not been determined.
723 stories · 76.9–77.3 · updated Oct 13, 2026
This is The Independent's own score, and this article is credited to The Independent. The host score in the Source Check is Yahoo News's.
Donald Trump attacked Tennessee congressional candidate Aftyn Behn on Truth Social, accusing her of disliking Christianity and country music while urging voters to support Matt Van Epps. Behn’s past comments about Nashville and her recent explanation of them are part of the closely watched special-election contest.
Trump endorsed Republican Matt Van Epps in the special election for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District and urged voters to support him, attacking Democratic candidate Aftyn Behn in a Truth Social post. The article says the attack appeared to refer to Behn’s 2020 podcast remarks criticizing Nashville and country music.
In a recent interview, Behn said that frustration with tourists did not mean she did not love Nashville, and that she ran for office rather than complain from the sidelines. The article describes the contest as closely watched nationally and reports spending by Republican and Democratic groups. Behn won the Democratic primary against fellow state representatives Vincent Dixie and Bo Mitchell and businessman Darden Copeland.
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 endorsed Van Epps
Democratic congressional candidate targeted by Trump’s attack
Behn's version of this story ↗Businessman who lost the Democratic primary
Republican congressional candidate endorsed by Trump
State representative who lost the Democratic primary
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
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