Trump calls Kentucky's governor a 'pain in the ass' while asking people to vote for him

(Image credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

last updated 5 November 2019

Was it a rally, or a roast?

President Trump was in Lexington, Kentucky, on Monday night for a rally in support of the state's Republican governor, Matt Bevin. Bevin is facing Democrat Andy Beshear, the state attorney general, in the gubernatorial race, with voters hitting the polls on Tuesday. Kentucky is a red state, but an April poll showed Bevin had just 33 percent approval among residents, making him the country's least popular governor. Experts say Tuesday's election could go either way.

Trump told the crowd that Bevin is constantly asking the administration to help Kentucky, to the point of being annoying. "He's such a pain in the ass, but that's what you want," he said. Trump then implored voters to choose Bevin, for his own sake. "Here's the story," he said. "If you win, they are going to make it like, ho hum. And if you lose, they are going to say Trump suffered the greatest defeat in the history of the world. You can't let that happen to me."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.