Trump hypes Cameron, gets Beshear record wrong in video. But will he come to KY?

Former President Donald Trump doubled down on his backing of Republican candidate for governor Attorney Daniel Cameron Tuesday in a video statement that praised Cameron and bashed Democratic incumbent Gov. Andy Beshear.

The former president also misrepresented Beshear’s position on gun policy and taxes. And in releasing a statement in video format, Trump potentially indicated that he’s not making a late-game, in-person visit to the Bluegrass State, political observers say.

“Beshear has been a disaster for Kentucky. He endorsed Crooked Joe Biden, which, in itself, is about as bad as it gets,” Trump said in the video, which was released Tuesday by Bluegrass Freedom Action, a political action committee supporting Cameron.

He also lauded Cameron as “strong and reliable” in his conservative principles — his support from law enforcement, plan to get students caught up from COVID-19-related learning loss and opposition to transgender girls fully participating in sports were cited as examples.

“He will eliminate Kentucky’s income tax and will support the working men and women of Kentucky, just like I did for four straight years,” Trump said.

Trump, who won Kentucky handily in 2016 and 2020, is still popular in the state based on available polling.

While using Trump’s likeness to bolster Cameron wasn’t an oft-used tactic for most of the general election, it’s ramped up in recent weeks. The release of the video came on the heels of a survey that showed Beshear tied for the most popular Democratic governor among Trump voters.

A couple of Trump’s claims about Beshear’s record and his plans contradict the facts.

“Beshear’s weak on crime and the Second Amendment. He’s not doing the protection it needs. They want to get rid of the Second Amendment. The Democrats are fighting hard to do that, and Beshear wants to help them,” Trump said.

Beshear, a supporter of moderate gun reform who recently allowed a bill making Kentucky a “Second Amendment Sanctuary” to become law, does not want to get rid of the Second Amendment. In fact, the governor has frequently stated that he supports Second Amendment rights.

Some Democrats like California Gov. Gavin Newsom do want to amend the Constitution in a way that drastically increases gun restrictions; Beshear is not one of them.

Further, Trump states that Beshear “wants to raise your taxes.” There is no evidence for this claim, although Beshear has expressed more pause at the idea of cutting the state’s personal income tax than his opponent. He vetoed an initial bill setting up the process for cuts all the way to zero but signed a bill affirming a a drop from 4.5% to 4%.

The former president’s support of Cameron is nothing new. He jumped on board in the summer of 2022, providing a much-touted endorsement that helped Cameron win in landslide fashion over established and well-funded competition in the GOP gubernatorial primary.

Trump is no stranger to stumping for Republican candidates in the state. In 2019, just days before the gubernatorial election, he urged voters to back former Republican governor Matt Bevin despite the fact that Trump described him as “such a pain in the ass.”

In 2018, Trump’s visit to Richmond is credited by some with putting a dent in then first-time Democratic candidate Amy McGrath’s race against incumbent Rep. Andy Barr, R-KY. Barr ended up winning by three percentage points.

The question has long hung in the air in the lead-up to this year’s election: will Trump do the same for Cameron?

In response to the video statement, former Kentucky political journalist and longtime politics observer Al Cross remarked, “He ain’t coming.”

“He’s not coming, and they think they can get a pretty good impact with video because they’ve got a good list of Trump supporters they can email and reach on social media. It’ll be a test of the efficacy of short video,” Cross said.

While there are drawbacks to getting a video statement instead of an in-person visit – the primary one being the amount of free airtime and print space news outlets will give the occasion if it’s in-person, Cross said – there’s also potential upside.

“The upside of a video is that it’s narrowcasting and won’t slide anti-Trump voters to the polls,” he said.

Another factor could be time.

Trump is camped out in early primary states for the 2024 nomination process, which commences soon. He’s also got various legal battles to fight, facing dozens of indictments in four separate cases and state and federal court, including two cases related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election he lost.