Trump urges Tennessee voters to back GOP candidate over Democrat who 'openly disdains Country music'
Behn’s past comments prompted Trump’s attack, and her campaign disputed his claims.

SOURCE CHECK
TAP FOR WHYCredibility rates Yahoo News, which republished this story. The other scores rate the article itself.
The reporting is attributed to an established national outlet, and the page identifies The Hill and carries a Nexstar copyright notice. The article includes attributed statements and polling context, though its reporting on the candidates relies heavily on campaign statements.
- Source type — The Hill is an established national news outlet.
- Transparency — The page identifies The Hill and carries a Nexstar copyright notice.
- Author attribution — The article has a named author.
- Editorial standards — The article attributes campaign claims and identifies the source of its polling reference, but provides limited independent verification.
The article presents Trump’s post, Behn’s prior remarks and response, a statement from her campaign, and a poll reference. It gives useful context but relies on campaign claims and offers few details about the poll or independent examination of the disputed allegations.
HOW WE SCORE ↗The article includes Trump’s statements, Behn’s earlier comments and subsequent response, and a rebuttal from her campaign. It does not include a response from Van Epps or independent verification of the claims in Trump’s post.
- Counterarguments presented — Behn’s campaign directly challenges Trump’s claims, and her video provides context for the comments cited.
- Source diversity — The article draws on the candidates’ campaign materials and a poll, but has limited independent sourcing.
- Omitted context — No response from Van Epps is included, and the poll’s methodology and figures are not detailed.
- Loaded language — The article mostly attributes charged language to its sources rather than adopting it.
The article reports Trump’s endorsement and attack, then includes Behn’s past comments, her response, and her campaign’s rebuttal. Its language is mostly matter-of-fact, while noting that Trump provided no evidence for his claims.
- Language tone — Mostly neutral language, with a factual note that Trump offered no evidence for his allegations.
- Source selection — The article includes Trump’s post and a response from Behn’s campaign.
- Framing — The article centers on Trump’s intervention while also giving context for the comments he cited.
Republished with credit
Republished from The Hill, with credit to the original publisher.
356 stories · 77.5–78.1 · updated Oct 12, 2026
This is The Hill's own score, and this article is credited to The Hill. The host score in the Source Check is Yahoo News's.
President Trump urged Tennessee voters to elect Matt Van Epps, attacking Democrat Aftyn Behn over past comments about country music. Behn’s campaign disputed Trump’s claims, and a poll cited in the article showed the special-election race neck and neck.
Trump urged voters in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District to support Republican Matt Van Epps in the special House election, and criticized Democratic candidate Aftyn Behn over comments she made about Nashville and country music. Behn made those comments in a 2020 podcast and later addressed them in a video, saying she wanted Nashville to be a better place for working people.
Behn’s campaign manager said Trump was lying and argued that Behn’s focus on affordability was resonating with voters. The article described the district as comfortably Republican but reported that an Emerson College Polling and The Hill survey showed Behn and Van Epps neck and neck.
Community verdict
VOTING CLOSEDNo good or bad look here
This story reports what happened without casting Behn in a good or bad light, so readers don’t rate it and it doesn’t count toward Behn’s record.
People in this story
SWIPE →Democratic candidate in the Tennessee 7th Congressional District special election
Republican candidate in the Tennessee 7th Congressional District special election
Van Epps's version of this story ↗President who endorsed Van Epps and criticized Behn
Trump's version of this story ↗Former representative whose resignation created the vacancy
Part of a bigger story
7 OUTLETS- ARTICLES
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- OUTLETS
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- AVG CRED
- 57
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