GOP panics as Democrat closes gap in red district special election

The Briefing with Jen Psaki

MS NOW, Jen Psaki

Politics, News, Ms Now, Versant Media, Versant

4.4 • 975 Ratings

🗓️ 27 November 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Donald Trump won Tennessee's 7th congressional district by 22 points last year, so Republicans may have expected an easy win in a special election coming this Tuesday, December 2. Instead, new polling shows the Democratic candidate, Aftyn Behn, all but closing the gap with Republican opponent Matt Van Epps. Behn talked with Jen Psaki about the success of her campaign and what she is hearing from voters.

Transcript

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0:00.0	We have a lot to get to tonight. We are also, as I just mentioned, going to continue very closely
0:05.8	following the shooting of two members of the National Guard today in the heart of our nation's
0:10.3	capital. And if anything happens, if we get any new developments, we will bring them to you
0:13.9	immediately. But I just want to start by giving you just a sense of everything we know as of right
0:19.0	this moment. According to the DC Metro
0:21.2	Police, at around 215 local time, a suspect came around the corner of 17th Street and I Street
0:27.3	just about two blocks from the White House. And witnesses told the Washington Post that they heard
0:32.4	two or three gunshots, followed by a pause and then more shots. The DC.C. police say the attack appears to have been carried
0:38.9	out by a lone gunman who ambushed two members of the West Virginia National Guard while they
0:44.1	were patrolling the area. The guard members then returned fire. Officials are calling it a targeted
0:49.9	attack. I should warn you that some of the images we are about to show are quite graphic.
0:55.7	So if you would like to look away, I just want to give you a little bit of a warning right now.
1:00.7	Now, as of tonight, the suspected gunman who has been identified as Rachmanula Lockwainwal,
1:06.2	a 29-year-old Afghan National, is in custody, but authorities have still not said anything publicly
1:12.7	about a motive, and that can sometimes take some time. We're going to talk to some guests
1:16.3	about that in a moment. The suspect was subdued and apprehended by other members of the National Guard,
1:21.4	along with law enforcement who were in the vicinity of the attack. And the two members of the
1:25.7	National Guard who were tragically shot have been
1:28.2	hospitalized and remain in critical condition at this time. A video from the aftermath of the
1:33.7	shooting appears to show a team of first responders doing chest compressions on one of those
1:38.8	National Guard members, while another team member cares for the other. And just to show you just
1:44.0	how close this shooting was to the heart of D.C., again, just blocks from the White House,
	...

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