By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
RICHMOND, Ky. (KT) – President Donald Trump urged his supporters to re-elect U.S. Rep. Andy Barr in the November midterm elections on Saturday at a raucous campaign rally and underscored the reason why.
“The election of Andy is a really important thing,” Trump told the crowd of 6,100 in Alumni Coliseum on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University. “It could make the difference between unbelievable continued success and, frankly, failure where we fight for two more years with these people, these obstructionists.”
Barr is locked in a hotly contested battle with Democrat Amy McGrath in the 6th Congressional District and Democrats are focused on the House seat as they strive to regain control of the House.
The president hammered on Barr’s opponent, who he said is “an extreme liberal chosen by Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters and the radical Democratic mob.”
Trump wasn’t finished with his attack on McGrath yet.
“Amy supports a social takeover of your healthcare, she supports open borders, she needs the tax hikes to cover the through-the-roof garbage you want no part of,” he said. “She wants to decimate your now thriving coal industry.”
Barr said everything changed when Trump took office in 2016 as opposed to the previous eight years under Barack Obama. “Under the president, my opponent voted for twice, you were forgotten,” he said. “Under President Donald J. Trump, you are remembered. And with Donald Trump and this Congress, Kentuckians have found hope.”
The president told supporters that more Republicans, including Barr, need to be sent to Congress in the midterm elections. The campaign rally at EKU, the first for a sitting President in Richmond, was one of several stops Trump is making ahead of the November election.
Speaking to an energized audience, the president spoke for nearly 75 minutes to a crowd that applauded and cheered his every statement.
Trump heaped praise on Sen. Mitch McConnell for his role in helping get Justice Brett Kavanaugh onto the Supreme Court bench. He called McConnell “Kentucky tough” and added, “There’s nobody tougher. There’s nobody smarter. He refused to cave to the radical Democrats’ shameful campaign of personal and political destruction.”
Trump praised Kentuckian politicians, recognizing “good friend” Sen. Rand Paul – even inviting him to the stage for brief comments – while also thanking Congressman Hal Rogers, Thomas Massie and Jamie Comer for their work with him. Trump mentioned Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin and Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers in his comments.
Barr said he got what he wanted from the rally, but “more importantly my constituents got what they wanted.”
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Joe Biden in Kentucky on Friday for Amy McGrath
Former Vice President Joe Biden was in Owingsville on Friday campaigning for Barr’s opponent, Amy McGrath.
He told the crowd of 2000 that “basic American values” are under assault and that McGrath, retired fighter pilot, has the character and courage that’s lacking in Washington. He stressed the importance of the November elections to a packed gym at Bath County High School.
“This election is bigger than politics,” he said.
McGrath has focused on turning out voters and held the rally in a small rural district.
Her military experience included 89 combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Biden called her run for Congress her “90th mission.”
