Why Trump Is Losing Ground Even in This Deep-Red State | Right Now With Perry Bacon

Right Now With Perry Bacon · Jan 16, 2026 · 19m

President Trump’s approval is dropping across the country, even in states that backed him strongly in 2016 and 2020. That’s partly why Democrats did so well in elections in 2025. Aftyn Behn was one of those Democrats. In a December special election in a U.S. House district in the Nashville area that Trump won by 22 percentage points in 2024, Behn lost by just nine. And Behn didn’t succeed by bashing her own party, as many red-state Democrats do. Instead, the progressive and former Invisible staffer leaned into affordability issues and Trump’s connections to Jeffrey Epstein. In the latest…