Trump said Bevin losing in Kentucky 'sends a really bad message.' Bevin lost.
President Trump made it clear during a rally on Monday that the Kentucky gubernatorial race was actually about him, not incumbent Republican Gov. Matt Bevin.
"Here's the story," he told supporters in Lexington. "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." Trump won Kentucky by 30 points during the 2016 presidential election, and appeared to concede that the very unpopular Bevin might not be everyone's cup of tea.
Bevin is "difficult," he said, and always asking him to give Kentucky money. "He's such a pain in the ass, but that's what you want," Trump added. He went on to declare the Bevin needed to be re-elected for his own sake, because "if you lose, it sends a really bad message."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Fast forward to Tuesday night, when Bevin lost to Democrat Andy Beshear, the state's attorney general. Trump has yet to comment on the outcome of the election, or the bad message that it sends.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
FBI bars Minnesota from ICE killing investigationSpeed Read The FBI had initially agreed to work with local officials
-
Political cartoons for January 9Cartoons Friday’s political cartoons include a look in the mirror, Life of a Showgirl, and more
-
House approves ACA credits in rebuke to GOP leadersSpeed Read Seventeen GOP lawmakers joined all Democrats in the vote
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
-
Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela after Maduro grabSpeed Read The American president claims the US will ‘run’ Venezuela for an unspecified amount of time, contradicting a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
-
CBS pulls ‘60 Minutes’ report on Trump deporteesSpeed Read An investigation into the deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious prison was scrapped
-
Trump administration posts sliver of Epstein filesSpeed Read Many of the Justice Department documents were heavily redacted, though new photos of both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton emerged
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
