Resurfaced videos dominate final days of TN-7 race as GOP targets Behn

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In the closing stretch of early voting in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, the online conversation around the December 2 special election has centered on a growing series of resurfaced videos featuring Democratic nominee Aftyn Behn. The clips — many recorded years before she entered the legislature — have been repackaged and circulated by Republican-aligned accounts in rapid succession, emphasizing Behn’s earlier activist-era footage.

Most of the material is not new. The videos have existed for years in podcasts, livestreams, and social media posts. What has changed is how aggressively they are being resurfaced, with Republicans using Behn’s own documented moments to frame her as a risky or volatile choice. Because the incidents were recorded, posted or livestreamed by Behn herself, they give opponents an unusual amount of unambiguous raw material.

A growing slate of viral clips

The most dominant footage is a late-night livestream where Behn and other activists trail ICE vehicles and Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers. In it, she describes their group as “bullying the ICE vehicles and state troopers.” Because the moment is self-recorded and shows her narrating the pursuit in real time, Republicans have turned it into one of the cycle’s most effective attack ads.

Another heavily circulated clip comes from a podcast interview where Behn offers a sharp critique of Nashville’s culture. In it, she says: “I’ve been heavily involved in the Nashville mayoral race because I hate this city, I hate the bachelorettes, I hate the pedal taverns, I hate country music. I hate all the things that make Nashville apparently an ‘it city’ to the rest of the country.” Republicans are using that clip to argue that Behn openly hates the city she is running to help represent in Congress.

A third video shows Behn being removed from the gallery of the Tennessee House of Representatives after shouting during a floor session. In the clip, she yells: “I’m here today on behalf of communities that you have silenced in this legislative session!” and “You have been violent to our various communities this entire legislative session!” before continuing with accusations that lawmakers had been violent and extreme toward people of color, women and minorities. Officers can be heard telling her to calm down as they escort her out while she continues shouting. Republicans have folded this episode into the broader stream of resurfaced videos, using it as another example of Behn in an emotional confrontation with state officials.

Those three clips make up the bulk of what is circulating. Surrounding them is a rotating mix of older protest footage and activist-era interviews — including a moment where Behn describes herself as “a very radical person” and a podcast segment in which she recounts a recurring dream of standing in a cafeteria shouting, “I don’t want children. I want power!” Together, they create a steady flow of older content that Republicans are using to define Behn in the final days of early voting.

A strategy built on what actually happened

The political strategy behind the resurfacing push is straightforward. Rather than debating Behn’s current message — which since the Democratic primary has focused on affordability, corruption and economic issues — Republican accounts are offering voters a curated version of Behn in her own words and actions from previous years. Each clip stands alone, but strung together, they create a composite portrait meant to raise doubts about her temperament, judgment and ideological fit for the district.

For Behn, the problem is not simply the circulation of unfavorable footage. It is that the underlying material is verifiably real. These are not anonymous accusations or questionable recordings. They are documented moments — often released by Behn herself — that cannot be denied, only reframed. That limits her options. Responding directly risks amplifying the footage; ignoring it allows opponents to define her without resistance.

The timing also gives Republican messaging more influence than it might in a higher-turnout race. Special elections tend to attract older, more partisan voters who may encounter only a handful of clips or headlines before voting. In that environment, a flood of resurfaced videos can have an outsized impact on defining a candidate.

Her opponent, Republican nominee Matt Van Epps, has emphasized a traditional campaign message focused on his military background, business experience and support from President Trump. That message has remained steady as the resurfaced Behn videos draw significant attention online and from national media outlets.

Whether the clips ultimately sway voters will not be clear until Dec. 2. But in the final days of early voting, the online battleground in TN-7 has become less about policy debates and more about which version of Aftyn Behn voters see — the candidate offering a general-election message on affordability, or the activist whose earlier videos now dominate Tennessee political social media.