President Donald Trump returned to Northern Kentucky for the second time this year in hopes of swaying GOP voters in the commonwealth to back Republicans at the ballot box.
The president spoke at Truist Arena in Highland Heights on Saturday afternoon. The event comes weeks ahead of the midterm election with key seats up for grabs in both Ohio and Kentucky.
“A very special hello to Kentucky,” President Trump said from the podium when he took the stage around 2 p.m. “I’m thrilled to be back in this beautiful commonwealth.”
For Kentucky, a seat in the U.S. Senate is up for grabs, with Republican Andy Barr and Democrat Charles Booker looking to replace longtime incumbent Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell.
A congressional representative in Kentucky’s 4th District is also on the ballot. Republican Ed Gallrein — who won the primary nomination over incumbent Republican Thomas Massie — Democrat Melissa Strange, Libertarian Jeremy Todd and independent write-in candidate Peter Harmon Williams are looking to fill that seat. Gallrein is Trump’s endorsed candidate in that race.
On the Ohio side, incumbent Republican Sen. John Husted is set face off against Democrat Sherrod Brown, who represented Ohio in the Senate for 18 years before being unseated in 2024 by Republican Bernie Moreno. What’s more, with incumbent Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine not seeking reelection, the governor’s seat is now contested between Trump-favored Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton.
At the event, Republican candidate for Campbell County Judge/Executive Andy Schabell led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance before introductory speeches began. Speakers at the event included chairman of Kentucky Republicans Robert Benvenuti, Kentucky Treasurer Mark Metcalf, Republican candidate for House of Representatives Ohio District 1 Eric Conroy, and finally Barr and Gallrein.
The speakers encouraged the attendees to get out and vote in the upcoming elections. Speeches also advocated for points on the Republican platform such as tax cuts, greater border security, building out domestic fossil fuel infrastructure and more.
“This is a choice, (between) the freedom our founders fought for, and the radical left government overreach that threatens to dismantle it before our very eyes,” said Gallrein. “It is the Communist Manifesto versus the Constitution.”
Trump himself spoke for over an hour. He spent much of his time complimenting the Republican slate of candidates, both in Ohio and Kentucky and other parts of the country. He also mentioned a potential future investment within the Commonwealth.
“You better get out and vote,” Trump told the crowd. “If the Republicans win, the Department of War will be investing $100 million in the pharmaceutical company Anthea to revitalize a gigantic drug manufacturing facility in Winchester, Kentucky.”
Early on in Trump’s speech, an individual was removed from the arena by security forces after causing a commotion in the audience.
“He’s a young kid. We shouldn’t ruin his life and press charges,” Trump told the crowd. “Just let him go.”
The rest of Trump’s speech went uninterrupted. The president discussed Kentucky economics, along with reiterating his promised $5,000 payouts to “all adult citizens” if Republicans won.
Trump invited both Gallrein and Barr back up to the podium.
“This is the most important midterm in the history of our country because we’ve gotten more things done, and they can undo them if we start losing an election, especially this one,” said Trump. “So, pretend I’m on the ballot. Go out and vote.”
Throughout their speeches, Trump, Barr and Gallrein argued that Democrats have become engulfed by socialism, like GOP candidates around the country have done this election cycle. As he has done before, Barr likened his Democratic opponent, former state Rep. Charles Booker, to New York Mayor Zorhan Mamdami. Trump, too, attacked Booker, calling him “a communist lunatic.” Gallrein said he’d defended America from “socialists, communists, tyrants and terrorists” in other countries while serving as a Navy SEAL officer.
“I’ve seen firsthand the devastation that communists and socialist agenda caused: food and gas shortages, high prices, long lines as families struggle to obtain life’s basic needs but live in utter misery,” Gallrein said. “If they like that so much why don’t those radical Democrats move there?”
Barr blamed high gas prices in the U.S. on Iran and said Iran’s military capabilities have been diminished. The strait was closed earlier this year after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
“The Ayatollah is dead, and its nuclear infrastructure is under rubble,” Barr said. “Thank you, President Trump, for making America and the world a safer place.”
Republican Party of Kentucky Chairman Robert Benvenuti was first in the speaker lineup and encouraged GOP voters to cast ballots in upcoming elections and push back against the left, which he said “now tries to convince our friends and neighbors that not enough has been done to clean up their handspun destruction, and in some twisted way, they deserve your vote.”
Saturday’s rally marked Trump’s second appearance in the Greater Cincinnati area in two weeks and his first in Northern Kentucky since March. Earlier this month, Trump appeared in Vandalia, which is just north of Dayton, to campaign for Republican candidates in Ohio’s major races for the midterm election.
WCPO’s Logan MacDonald, Molly Schramm and the Kentucky Lantern contributed reporting to this story.
