Democratic congressional candidate Aftyn Behn repeatedly refused to walk back her past “defund the police” rhetoric during an appearance on MS NOW Sunday, sidestepping direct questions about her own words — including tweets calling to dissolve the Nashville police department and suggesting burning down police stations was justified.
Behn, now running in a special election for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, previously posted a series of incendiary comments in 2020 that she has since deleted. The tweets advocated dissolving the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, claimed schools should only reopen if the police were defunded, and applauded Americans who believed burning police stations was justified.
Host Catherine Rampbell confronted Behn directly:
“You said in those since deleted tweets that the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department should be dissolved… and another saying good morning especially to the 54% of Americans that believe burning down a police station is justified. 2020 was obviously a very fraught year. Do you still stand by those comments?”
Rather than answer, Behn evaded.
“I’m not going to engage in cable news talking points,” she said. “Our communities need solutions… local people deciding local problems with local solutions.”
Rampbell pressed again. Behn responded that she didn’t remember the tweets and was more focused on her congressional race — a far cry from the fiery activist voice she used online just a few years ago.
Behn is facing Republican Matt Van Epps, a former commissioner in Gov. Bill Lee’s administration, in the special election. But her radical history extends well beyond anti-police rhetoric.
Behn has disparaged her own state and district repeatedly. In a February 2020 appearance on a show called Year Old GRITS, she said she “hated everything about Nashville.” In resurfaced 2023 footage, she described Tennessee as a “godforsaken state.”
The Democratic hopeful has gone further, calling Tennessee “racist,” declaring that college sororities are “a staple of white supremacy,” and backing taxpayer-funded transgender surgeries for minors.
Those statements — along with her refusal to clarify or renounce her most extreme positions — paint a clear picture of a far-left activist now asking a conservative Tennessee district to send her to Congress.
Behn’s dodging on Sunday suggests she knows how toxic her old comments are with voters. But refusing to answer whether she still believes police departments should be dissolved, or whether arson against police stations is “justified,” leaves little doubt where her ideological roots lie.
Tennessee’s 7th District, long represented by Republicans, will now decide whether to elevate a candidate who once openly insulted the very people she now claims she wants to serve — and who still won’t say whether she stands by her own extreme anti-police positions.
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