Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear says Trump family members repeating lies about the 2020 election being stolen this past weekend in Kentucky is “not helpful” and erodes trust in institutions.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reported Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and his partner Kimberly Guilfoyle spoke at an event Saturday called “Freedom Fest” in northern Kentucky, hosted on a farm belonging to Republican gubernatorial candidate and suspended lawyer Eric Deters. According to the newspaper, all three promoted the falsehood that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.
“Is there anybody out there that doesn’t think that Joe Biden cheated like absolute hell?” Eric Trump said, according to the newspaper.
In a visit to Murray Tuesday to promote infrastructure funding, Beshear said such rhetoric is harmful.
“It’s not helpful. It riles people up and it makes them trust our institutions less. My hope is that ultimately people can move on,” Beshear said. “We don’t win every election, and ultimately we move forward to the next one.”
When asked if he had concerns about GOP gubernatorial candidates in Kentucky seeking to align with Trump, he said he isn’t “focused on the 2023 gubernatorial election.”
“We’ve got both eastern and western Kentucky that we have to rebuild, that we got to pick people up,” Beshear said. “But as we get towards 2023, I think every candidate is going to have to answer some basic questions. That goes from whether or not they believe that election was stolen, their feelings on January 6th and their views on vaccinations.”
Liam Niemeyer is a reporter for the Ohio Valley Resource covering agriculture and infrastructure in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia and also serves Assistant News Director at WKMS. He has reported for public radio stations across the country from Appalachia to Alaska, most recently as a reporter for WOUB Public Media in Athens, Ohio. He is a recent alumnus of Ohio University and enjoys playing tenor saxophone in various jazz groups.
