Speaking on Fox News’s America’s Newsroom as polls opened across Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, Burchett said Republicans cannot afford to be complacent in a race that should be a GOP lock.
“Look, this lady was educated in Knoxville, Tennessee, my hometown,” Burchett said. “We need to wake up to what’s going on. It’s not these people moving in from California, or New York, or Chicago, even. It is our own homegrown Marxists that we’re bringing up. We have to start paying attention to our base and what the heck is going on.”
Burchett praised Van Epps — a combat veteran, father, and Trump-backed conservative — as “one of the best candidates I’ve ever seen,” insisting Republicans must rally immediately or risk losing a district that should not even be competitive.
“This is the proverbial canary in the cave,” he said. “If Matt Van Epps, a qualified candidate in a district that Trump won by over 15 points, can’t carry this thing, we’re in trouble. Republicans are asleep at the switch.”
The seat became vacant after Republican Rep. Mark Green retired earlier this year. A poll released Monday by Emerson College and The Hill showed Van Epps leading Behn by just two points — 48 percent to 46 percent — an astonishingly tight margin for a district Green won with nearly 60 percent of the vote.
Burchett argued that low turnout among core Republican constituencies — especially Evangelical Christians and gun owners — continues to fuel Democratic competitiveness in off-year and special elections.
“Forty-five percent of evangelical Christians, and I consider myself in that crowd, [and] 30 percent of the gun owners are not even going to go to the polls,” he said. “This is what happens when 12 percent of the population votes. It should not even be a race.”
As Breitbart News reported Tuesday in Van Epps’s interview on Breitbart News Daily, the Republican candidate has repeatedly highlighted Behn’s radical record, describing her as a far-left ideologue who “hates Christianity,” backs gender procedures for minors, and filmed herself harassing ICE agents and Tennessee Highway Patrol officers while serving as a state legislator. He also noted her endorsement from the Democratic Socialists of America and her support for tax hikes to fund her agenda.
Behn has also shown open contempt for the very city she hopes to represent. According to a resurfaced 2020 podcast clip, Behn declared: “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.”
In his interview Tuesday on Breitbart News Daily, Van Epps framed the race as a stark contrast between a radical leftist who despises Tennessee’s culture and an America First conservative committed to defending it. He described himself as “a Christian, a husband, a father, an America-first conservative, a combat veteran” who loves the district and believes Behn’s socialist policies would drive up taxes, undermine families, and push Tennessee toward the far-left agenda embraced by national Democrats.
Burchett, for his part, said Behn represents exactly where today’s Democratic Party has drifted.
“She is a Marxist, and she’s not even a friendly Marxist like AOC,” he said, adding that her voting record would make Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) “look like she subscribes to the National Review.”
“She is clearly the far-left’s dream girl,” he continued. “She doesn’t say anything, and she will vote so far to the left that she will make AOC look moderate.”
The Knoxville Republican also tied the race directly to control of the House. With impending resignations — including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene — and several competitive seats looming, Burchett said this single election could determine whether Republicans maintain a governing majority.
“We’re one vote series away from losing the republic,” he warned. “We pay attention to presidents, because President Trump is a great president. But when it gets down to the other races, we forget about it… and then we scratch our heads and wonder, why are our taxes so high? Why are these crazy policies?”
Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), and Tennessee Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty have all stepped in to boost Van Epps in the final hours, stressing that a Democrat upset would embolden the far left heading into the 2026 midterm cycle.
Burchett closed with a blunt appeal to GOP voters:
“We’ve got to wake up. She is the mainstream of the Democratic Party, and we’ve got to stop it. Surely, for goodness’ sake, we can stop it in Tennessee. Matt Van Epps is the candidate. If you’re out there, folks, please vote for him. He is a wonderful candidate.”
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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