Trump Says Mitch McConnell’s ‘Stench’ Was to Blame for Trump-Endorsed Candidate's Defeat in Kentucky

Donald Trump has claimed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is responsible for the downfall of Daniel Cameron, the Republican gubernatorial candidate for Kentucky and the state's Attorney General. Cameron was defeated on Tuesday by the Democratic nominee, Andy Beshear, by a margin of five points. As reported by Forbes, Trump claimed that Beshear defeated the Republican candidate because Cameron 'couldn't alleviate the stench of Mitch McConnell.'

The former President claimed in a recent post that his backing of Cameron had increased the Republican candidate's prospects by '25 points.' On Wednesday, he wrote on Truth Social, "Daniel Cameron lost because he couldn’t alleviate the stench of Mitch McConnell. I told him early that’s a big burden to overcome. McConnell and [Mitt] Romney are Kryptonite for Republican candidates. I moved him up 25 points, but the McConnell relationship was ‘too much to bear.'" On Tuesday, Beshear won re-election with 52.3% of the vote to Cameron's 46.8% in the swing state's battleground contest, despite the red state voting massively for Trump in the 2016 and 2020 elections.

Chris Christie, a GOP presidential candidate for 2024 and the current Governor of New Jersey, stated on Tuesday night that the unsuccessful Cameron made a 'huge mistake' by aligning himself with former President Trump. As reported by The Hill, Christie pointed out on CNN in an interview, "Daniel Cameron made a huge mistake by embracing Donald Trump and selling his soul to him. And that’s what he did. And the voters of Kentucky, a very red state, as you noted, gave their verdict on politicians who sell their souls to Donald Trump. Daniel Cameron was a rising star in the Republican Party until he decided to throw his lot in with Donald Trump. I mean, let’s face it: Donald Trump is political and electoral poison down [the] ballot."

NJ's governor further pointed out, "Down ballot, his endorsement has led to Republican defeats in the House—in the Senate, rather, and the House in ‘18. In ‘20, we lost the United States Senate and the White House. In ‘22, we underperformed miserably. And tonight, you’re seeing us lose again."

In 2020, McConnell was re-elected to the Senate with a roughly 20% margin of victory against his well-funded Democratic opponent. Even though Cameron was widely expected to lose the Kentucky governor campaign, Trump made his first remarks on the race a few days later, saying Cameron proved he was 'not really a McConnell guy,' as per Newsweek. A year before the key presidential election of 2024, the results in Kentucky were part of a night of success for Democrats and a night of hardship for the GOP in other states. Several elections around the country, notably in Virginia and Ohio, went to the Democrats.