Mitch McConnell: Gov. Andy Beshear slams Rand Paul over Fancy Farms criticism as 'autopen' row continues
On Saturday, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear was subject to a vicious attack from Senator Rand Paul over the former’s absence from Fancy Farm: Kentucky’s annual political picnic and fundraiser.
Sen. Paul, a Republican Senator from Kentucky, took a dig at the Governor for missing the event. Speaking from the stage at the picnic, the Republican Senator said: “If Andy Beshear is remembered, it will be for being neutered at every turn by the Republican legislature.”
It did not sit well with Gov. Beshear, a Democrat who was not at the Fancy Farms Picnic because he was attending his son’s final travel baseball tournament. Shortly after Paul’s comments, Gov. Beshear took a dig at him bringing up the issue of Kentucky’s GOP Senator Mitch McConnell, who has been absent from the US Senate since a June 12 fall.
The senator signed a letter in July from Gov. Andy Beshear requesting that Donald Trump approve a request for a major disaster declaration in the state after the recent floods. Along with McConnell, the letter was signed by other Kentucky lawmakers, Rep. Andy Barr and Senator Rand Paul. But the signature of Mitch McConnell, who is currently undergoing rehab at the George Washington Hospital in Washington DC, raised allegations that it was done using an “autopen” by McConnell’s chief of staff, Terry Carmack.
An autopen is a machine that automatically reproduces a person’s handwritten signature using a real pen. It’s designed to make signatures look like they were written by hand, even though the machine is doing the writing. Even as Gov. Beshear sparred with Sen. Paul, the allegations of autopen far from died down.
What Andy Beshear Told Sen. Rand Paul Over Fancy Farms
Gov. Andy Beshear launched a scathing attack on Sen. Rand Paul over the latter’s remarks. Even here, the issue of Mitch McConnell made a comeback as Governor Beshear questioned Sen. Rand Paul’s silence on the prolonged Senate absence of Mitch McConnell.
“Sorry to miss Fancy Farm today but let me get in on the fun. Rand Paul apparently said I’d been “neutered” by my legislature,” Beshear wrote. Rich coming from a guy who’s never had a pair of b**** and if he did they’d be held by Trump.
Then, directly taking a jab at the GOP’s conspicuous silence on Mitch McConnell’s prolonged Senate absence, Gov. Beshear said: “Funny how the Republicans are all mad I missed one political event to watch my son play baseball. But no outrage that Mitch McConnell has been nowhere to be seen for 50 days.”
“Fancy Farm is a great Kentucky tradition and it’s all in good fun. I can take it. Hope they can too,” he added.