Aftyn Behn, the Democratic nominee for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, is facing mounting questions after audio surfaced of her criticizing Nashville, the city she is seeking to represent.
The recording circulated widely on social media and prompted further examination of her public statements and prior positions.
In the audio clip, Behn is heard expressing her frustration with several aspects of life in Nashville.
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“I hate the city, I hate the bachelorettes, I hate the pedal taverns, I hate country music, I hate all of the things that make Nashville apparently an ‘it city’ to the rest of the country,” Behn says, laughing, “but I hate it.”
Aftyn Behn– the Democrat nominee for the upcoming TN07 special election– says that she despises Nashville, the city that she’s running to represent in Congress:
“I hate the city, I hate the bachelorettes, I hate the pedal taverns, I hate country music, I hate all of the… pic.twitter.com/L9lmo1YkkJ
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 19, 2025
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Behn later attempted to address the comments by pointing to her personal connection to the city’s music culture, saying she has cried at the Country Music Hall of Fame “at least ten times.”
She also claimed the audio circulating online was part of a political effort by opponents, describing it as a GOP operation intended to create a distraction during the final stretch of the campaign.
The recording prompted a renewed review of earlier statements Behn made on social media and during public appearances.
Those posts included her support for the policies of New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani and criticisms of President Donald Trump.
Behn also posted comments describing sororities as “white supremacy” and suggesting that Tennessee voters hold racist views.
Additional posts indicated support for reducing police funding.
Behn was asked about those statements during an interview on MS NOW, where she was questioned about several since-deleted tweets from 2020.
In those posts, she wrote that the Nashville Police Department should be “dissolved” and expressed support for teachers’ union conditions requiring reductions in police funding before schools reopened.
Another post she wrote stated, “Good morning, especially to the 54 percent of Americans that believe burning down a police station is justified.”
The anchor asked Behn directly, “Do you still stand by those comments, and if not, is there anything you want to clarify?”
Behn responded, “I’m not going to engage in cable news talking points, but what I will say is that our communities need solutions, we need local people solving local problems with local solutions. And that’s not the overreach of the federal government or state government of which are dealing with in Nashville and our cities across Tennessee.”
When the anchor followed up and asked again whether she wanted to clarify the remarks, Behn said, “Once again, I don’t remember these tweets.”
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A third attempt from the anchor received a similar response.
“Once again, I’m going to talk about my race,” she said.
Democrat Aftyn Behn refuses THREE TIMES to walk back her previous calls to defund the police:
MSNBC: “Do you still stand by those comments?”
BEHN: “I’m not going to give cable news talking points….
MSNBC: “What is your position today?”
BEHN: “I’m gonna talk about my race.” pic.twitter.com/92YRm2KMOk
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 24, 2025
House Democrats and the DNC are both actively funding a candidate who not only endorsed defunding the police, she endorsed **burning down police stations*** https://t.co/EgOj5A5q5h pic.twitter.com/Qgz95dg8KM
— Zach Parkinson (@AZachParkinson) November 24, 2025
Behn’s Republican opponent, Matt Van Epps, commented on the ongoing controversy by telling voters that the decision is ultimately in their hands as the election approaches.
.@aftynfortn wants to defund the police. Only you can stop her. Go VOTE tomorrow through Wednesday or on Tuesday, December 2nd if you can’t make it to vote early. If you don’t want your taxes to go up or your police to be defunded, GO VOTE!
Find your polling place:… https://t.co/3Jykyxl4vR
— Matt Van Epps for Congress (@MattForTN) November 24, 2025
The special election for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District is scheduled for December 2.
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