Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky predicted Wednesday that Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear could win the Senate seat held by Mitch McConnell.
Beshear defeated Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron in November to secure a second term as governor. McConnell’s seat is up in 2026 after he won reelection in 2020; the Senate minority leader has not announced whether he intends to run again.
“If Gov. Beshear ran for his Senate seat and the election were held tomorrow, who would win?” Fox News host Laura Ingraham asked Paul.
“Beshear,” Paul said.
WATCH:
Former President Donald Trump carried Kentucky by huge margins in the 2016 and 2020 elections, while Republicans won other statewide offices in the 2023 off-year elections.
“By a lot?” Ingraham asked.
“Yeah,” Paul said.
Prior to his prediction, Paul blasted McConnell, accusing him of not working with the more conservative Republicans in the Senate.
“He’s completely out of touch with Kentucky Republicans, with conservative Republicans. Advocating for all this money to go to Ukraine, we’re not for that, I mean, nobody in Kentucky is for that,” Paul told Ingraham. “His approval ratings in Kentucky are almost below zero, they are the lowest of any elected official in the United States. He is working with Biden and Schumer to funnel your money to Ukraine, but he is not working with conservatives.”
“He is in the minority of his caucus,” Paul continued. “There’s maybe 10 of them vote with all the Democrats. He is using the minority of the big-government Republicans up here to work with Democrats to send your money to Ukraine.”
McConnell has come under fire over the recently scuttled border deal negotiated by Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, with some conservatives reportedly plotting his ouster.
Harold Hutchison on February 7, 2024
