President Donald Trump has endorsed GOP candidate Matt Van Epps in Tennessee’s 7th congressional district special election, and is using his influence on social media to encourage MAGA loyalists to vote early. (Election day is Tuesday, December 2).
Note: The special election was triggered by the resignation of Republican Mark Green, who took a private sector job after voting to pass Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
On Tuesday, Trump wrote: “I am asking all America First Patriots in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, who haven’t voted yet, to please GET OUT AND VOTE for MAGA Warrior Matt Van Epps, tomorrow, November 26th, the last day to vote early in person.”
I am asking all America First Patriots in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, who haven’t voted yet, to please GET OUT AND VOTE for MAGA Warrior Matt Van Epps, tomorrow, November 26th, the last day to vote early in person. You can win this Election for Matt! PLEASE VOTE FOR…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 25, 2025
Van Epps, former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services, followed the President’s post with a video (below) of him with Trump celebrity ally Kid Rock and wrote: “BREAKING: COUNTRY MUSIC LEGEND KID ROCK ENDORSES MATT VAN EPPS. No lunatics in our Tennessee politics. TN07, vote red on December 2nd. Make your plan. Find your polling place.”
Note: Kid Rock, who reacted to a Bud Light commercial by opening fire with an alleged automatic rifle on cases of beer and launched a national boycott of a beloved American brand, is the one in the video who says, “let’s not let these lunatics into our politics.”
BREAKING: COUNTRY MUSIC LEGEND KID ROCK ENDORSES MATT VAN EPPS
No lunatics in our Tennessee politics. TN07, vote red on December 2nd.
Make your plan. Find your polling place: https://t.co/QlBjmbTW3d#MattforTN pic.twitter.com/SBeXyS5ZwU
— Matt Van Epps for Congress (@MattForTN) November 26, 2025
Kid Rock is referring to Van Epps’ opponent, Democratic Tennessee State Representative Aftyn Behn, as a lunatic. (In 2019, Behn was removed from the Tennessee House of Representatives after interrupting a legislative session to call for the expulsion of state representative David Byrd who was accused of sexually assaulting underage girls in 1988, accusations he denied.)
Van Epps’s post with Kid Rock is receiving a lot of criticism regarding his description of Kid Rock as a country music artist. As one replied, “Kid Rock, as in rock music, not a country legend. Tell people you have no idea who’s standing next to you without saying it.”
Another replied: “‘Country music legend’ Dude hasn’t had a hit since 2000 but that’s when he was a Wigger rapper wannabe rockstar. Name one ‘Legendary’ Kid Rock country song I’ll wait.” And another: “Whoa, country music legend?? Stop it.”
Note: Behn is also known for organizing protests outside the State Capitol after the 2023 Tennessee House of Representatives expulsions, when three Democratic Representatives Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones, and Justin J. Pearson were booted for violating the chamber’s decorum rules. The lawmakers were punished, but later invited back, for leading gun reform protests on the House floor during a legislative session three days after the 2023 Nashville school shooting, which caused the deaths of three nine‑year‑old children, three adults, and the shooter.