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.
-
The week's best photos
In Pictures A silver-painted boy, a raging flood, and more
-
Roblox, one of the world's most popular video games, has become a bastion of hate speech
The Explainer The platform has over 111 million daily users
-
Russian strike on Kyiv kills 23, hits EU offices
Speed Read The strike was the second-largest since Russia invaded in 2022
-
RFK Jr. names new CDC head as staff revolt
Speed Read Kennedy installed his deputy, Jim O'Neill, as acting CDC director
-
DC prosecutors lose bid to indict sandwich thrower
Speed Read Prosecutors sought to charge Sean Dunn with assaulting a federal officer
-
White House fires new CDC head amid agency exodus
Speed Read CDC Director Susan Monarez was ousted after butting heads with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccines
-
DOGE put Social Security data at risk, official says
Speed Read DOGE workers made the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans vulnerable to identity theft
-
Court rejects Trump suit against Maryland US judges
Speed Read Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee, said the executive branch had no authority to sue the judges
-
Trump expands National Guard role in policing
Speed Read The president wants the Guard to take on a larger role in domestic law enforcement
-
Trump says he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Speed Read The move is likely part of Trump's push to get the central bank to cut interest rates
-
Abrego released from jail, faces Uganda deportation
Speed Read The wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego García is expected to be detained at an ICE check-in and deported to Uganda