CNN commentator Scott Jennings pushed back sharply against anchor Kaitlan Collins during election night coverage after Collins attempted to downplay Tennessee Democrat Aftyn Behn’s record of anti-police statements, including comments supporting “defund the police” rhetoric, as reported by The Western Journal.

Behn, who ran in the special election for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, lost to Republican Matt Van Epps by a margin of 53.9% to 45.0%.

Behn’s past statements resurfaced throughout the campaign, including posts in which she endorsed the idea of defunding law enforcement and, in one instance, appeared to condone violence against police stations.

Good morning to all the people who ACTUALLY respect our law enforcement officers unlike Aftyn Behn who thinks it’s okay to burn down police stations. pic.twitter.com/Eel6vFwIxF

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 29, 2025

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Aftyn Behn continues her train wreck of a campaign to be a representative from Tennessee.

Here she’s asked about her past calls to defund the police. She refuses to talk about them.

Behn won’t even say if she supports defunding the police now.

Pathetic.pic.twitter.com/bGrC7MQWrd https://t.co/wu0LJzXyZN

— Paul A. Szypula (@Bubblebathgirl) November 24, 2025

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NEW: CNN’s Kasie Hunt gives up and moves on after far-left congressional candidate Aftyn Behn of Tennessee refused to admit that funding the police is a good thing.

Hunt: Would you like more money for more cops on the streets in your district?

Behn: So those um, past comments… pic.twitter.com/DScvVKZQYt

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 2, 2025

Jennings said those positions were central to voter concerns, even if Behn and her allies attempted to move the conversation to other issues in the final weeks of the race.

During a panel discussion, Collins suggested the scrutiny on Behn’s comments had been excessive.

She argued that “those were her past comments” and that “she was a private citizen. That wasn’t like a core tenet of her campaign. She talked about affordability.” Collins questioned whether those remarks should define all Democrats.

Jennings responded that Behn repeatedly declined to walk back her anti-police positions, including in interviews just days before voters went to the polls.

“What a ridiculous way to just maintain a position that nobody likes,” Jennings said. He noted that Behn “got asked about it repeatedly, and refused to back away from it.”

Fact-checkers and reporters noted that Behn was asked multiple times, including on CNN, whether she still supported defunding the police.

In each instance, Behn refused to answer directly or avoided the question, including an interview on Nov. 24 and another on Dec. 2, when she declined to state whether she supported more police funding in her district.

Jennings dismissed Collins’ suggestion that Behn’s positions should not be judged because she made them before becoming a candidate.

“‘I was just a private citizen’? Oh my gosh, we’ve never held what you said as a private citizen against you in a political campaign, for goodness sakes,” he said. “What a ridiculous way to just maintain a position that nobody likes.”

Jennings argued that Behn’s refusal to retract her statements reflected the preferences of the Democratic base. “This is what Democrats believe, and this is what their base wants. It’s why she wouldn’t go back on it,” he said.

Collins continued pressing the point that Behn’s campaign platform focused on affordability rather than policing issues, but Jennings countered that voters were aware of her past rhetoric and unwillingness to disavow it.

He argued this was a significant factor in the race, despite projections that had shown a much closer contest heading into Election Day.

The race, which had been viewed as competitive due to typical off-cycle dynamics, ended with a decisive victory for Van Epps. Republicans pointed to Behn’s history and her reluctance to moderate her stance on policing as key reasons for the outcome.

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