Kentucky Republicans came to the state’s premier political event this weekend intent on winning the election in November and beyond, but some aspiring gubernatorial candidates struggled to come to terms with Donald’s defeat Trump in 2020.
They gave analyzed or tortured answers when asked if Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over Trump for the presidency was fairly decided. Their tiptoeing was a sign of Trump’s continued grip on many in the GOP, including in Kentucky, which he easily carried twice.
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That influence was evident on Saturday as Trump supporters held large “Trump Won” signs as people gathered for the political speech at the Fancy Farm picnic in western Kentucky. The signs – promoting Trump’s bogus claims of a rigged 2020 election – drew cheers from Republican loyalists. The stump-style speech at the picnic — broadcast on statewide television — is a rite of passage for candidates statewide in Kentucky.
The GOP gubernatorial candidates will compete for the party’s nomination next May.
Trump has already weighed in on the Bluegrass State gubernatorial race in 2024, endorsing GOP Attorney General Daniel Cameron. Democratic Governor Andy Beshear, who is seeking a second term, skipped the picnic and spent Saturday comforting flood victims in eastern Kentucky.
Cameron underscored Trump’s endorsement during his picnic speech. But he bristled with questions over the weekend about the ex-president’s unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud in 2020.
“The election was fair and safe here in Kentucky,” Cameron said when asked by reporters. “Listen, we have to focus on the future. And that’s what this campaign is about.
Cameron, however, has distanced himself from the views of some die-hard Trump supporters who believe the 2020 presidential election results should be overturned.
“President Biden is the President of the United States. I don’t dispute that,” said Cameron, who as attorney general has joined several lawsuits challenging Biden administration policies.
Federal and state election officials and Trump’s own attorney general said there was no credible evidence the election was tainted. The former president’s fraud allegations have also been flatly dismissed by the courts, including by Trump-appointed judges.
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Cameron, who worked for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and considers him a mentor, also declined to discuss the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. The House panel investigating the attack blamed Trump, saying the assault was not spontaneous but an “attempted coup” and a direct result of the defeated president’s efforts to void the election.
Instead of discussing the Capitol siege, Cameron referred to the 2020 protests sparked by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other black Americans in encounters with police. He said he was not asked about protests that destroyed property in some cities across the country.
Cameron, who is black, even made a joke about Trump’s endorsement in his picnic speech — in true Fancy Farm form, where zingers and parodies are not only common but expected.
“Now people have been speculating how I got that endorsement. So today I’m going to spill the beans. It was actually pretty easy. … All I had to do was secure to Trump that Mitch McConnell is not Makenze’s grandfather,” Cameron joked, referring to his wife.
Cameron was the only gubernatorial candidate to mention Trump, whose endorsement had been coveted by other GOP gubernatorial candidates from Fancy Farm Stadium.
In her picnic speech, State Rep. Savannah Maddox, another gubernatorial candidate, mentioned Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as a “genuine Republican” who “will fight for your rights and freedoms. constitutional”.
Cameron wasn’t the only GOP candidate struggling to answer Trump-related questions.
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Asked if he thought Biden won fairly, Ryan Quarles said Kentucky had a “safe election” and that Trump “won a huge amount” in the Bluegrass State. Quarles, the state agriculture commissioner, is also among the gubernatorial candidates seeking the GOP nomination that will be decided next spring.
“I think President Trump would do a much better job than President Biden if he were in power today,” Quarles added.
Another gubernatorial hopeful, state auditor Mike Harmon, gave a more than 140-word answer when first asked if Biden won fairly. Harmon later said some “key election-related controls had been removed,” but said he couldn’t “make an assessment one way or the other.”
Harmon said he wished there was no attack on the Capitol, but also pointed to the damage and destruction of property during police-related protests, saying there was a lack of pay attention to this.
“Certainly President Biden is our president,” Harmon said later. “We must pray for him as we would pray for any of our presidents. And I hope it gives advice. There are some things we would like him to do differently, obviously.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
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