Republicans Face An Unexpected Test In Tennessee

The Fox News Rundown

FOX News Podcasts

News, Daily News, Politics

3.4 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 2 December 2025

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Voters in Tennessee’s Seventh Congressional District are heading to the polls for a race that has unexpectedly become competitive in what was once considered a reliably Republican seat. Democratic candidate Aftyn Behn has gained momentum and national backing as her party hopes for an unexpected House pickup. Meanwhile, her Republican opponent, Matt Van Epps, is relying on President Trump’s endorsement to hold the district and prevent the GOP's slim House majority from shrinking. Van Epps joins the Rundown to discuss why he believes he will win today's special election and how he's coping with the pressure of the race. Last December, Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed in midtown Manhattan while traveling for a work conference. Luigi Mangione, accused of killing the CEO, is back in court this week for a pretrial hearing to determine whether key evidence will be admitted at trial. Criminal defense attorney Andrew Cherkasky joins the Rundown to discuss the evidence in question and how critical it is to the prosecution's case. Plus, commentary by FOX News Contributor Joe Concha. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Kaylee McEnany.
0:01.2	I'm Steve Ducey.
0:02.3	I'm Sandra Smith, and this is the Fox News Rundown.
0:09.1	Tuesday, December 2nd, 2025.
0:11.9	I'm Jessica Rosenfall.
0:13.2	It's Election Day in Tennessee for what was believed to be a ruby red congressional seat.
0:18.5	We'll find out what shade of red it is after tonight or if the seat
0:21.8	has flipped altogether. The margin is incredibly tight and we're going to win this. We're going to
0:27.1	keep this seat red and we're going to drive America first forward for all of our constituents
0:33.5	and for the country. We speak with Tennessee Republican congressional candidate Matt Van
0:38.3	Epps. I'm Dave Anthony. An infamous murder case is back in court, and Luigi Mangione's lawyers
0:45.7	are trying to prevent damning evidence from being used against him at his trial in the killing of a
0:51.0	health care CEO. Well, that backpack is a, is proof positive that he committed the crime.
0:58.0	And so obviously the defense wants to do everything in their power to keep that out of evidence.
1:02.9	And I'm Joe Concha. I've got the final word on the Fox News rundown.
1:17.6	The race for the 7th Congressional District began when Congressman Mark Green retired July 20th of this year.
1:20.8	He'd only announced his plan to resign a little more than a month before.
1:29.6	Six months before that, during the 2024 presidential election, both Green and President Trump won this district by about 22 points.
1:35.0	The race now, though, to fill green's seat has been close, as Democratic state lawmaker Afton Bain has made it competitive.
1:37.1	But we know that we're not only committed to winning this race and flipping a congressional seat in the
1:42.9	side.
1:51.0	She's received support from former Vice President Al Gore and Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. On the Republican side, combat veteran Matt Van Epps has the endorsement of President Trump,
	...

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