President Donald Trump on Tuesday threw his “Complete and Total” support behind Republican Matt Van Epps, a Tennessee congressional candidate facing a complaint that accuses him of “misleading voters” by appearing in uniform in a recent campaign ad.
In a post to his Truth Social platform Tuesday evening, Trump urged “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” ahead of Wednesday’s final day of early in-person voting.
“You can win this Election for Matt!” Trump wrote. “PLEASE VOTE FOR MATT VAN EPPS, who has my Complete and Total Endorsement.”
The endorsement arrives as Van Epps, a Republican favorite who also scored the backing of Gov. Bill Lee (R-TN), faces scrutiny over a complaint filed last month involving the use of his U.S. Army uniform in one of his campaign ads.
The complaint argues that Van Epps violated U.S. Department of War rules that bar military members from making political appearances in uniform or engaging in activity “that could reasonably give rise to the inference or appearance of official sponsorship, approval, or endorsement,” The Tennessean reported.
Van Epps, a lieutenant colonel in the Tennessee National Guard and former Army helicopter pilot, appears in uniform throughout the ad, with patches and insignia removed, according to the Nashville-based publication. His campaign dismissed the allegations as “desperate nonsense.”
But the complainant, Tennessee veteran Dillon Scott, argued that Van Epps is “improperly misleading voters about his military status” by “his flagrant flouting” of his uniform. He also called the ad “misleading and inappropriate” and “very disturbing” for someone seeking public office.
The special election for the red state’s Seventh Congressional District is set for Dec. 2.
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