Republican Andy Barr removed an image of President Donald Trump at the top of his webpage as he sets his sights on filling Mitch McConnellâs Senate seat in November.
The Kentucky GOP Senate hopeful is the latest, and perhaps the most well-known, GOP candidate to date to make changes to his campaign website to put some distance between himself and the increasingly unpopular president ahead of the midterms, even though heâs running in what is considered a red state.
Just last month, Barrâs website prominently displayed an image of him standing with Trump at a rally along with the headline âKentucky Tough. 100% America First.â It also emphasized that Trump endorsed him.
The campaign has since replaced the image of Barr with Trump at the top of his Senate website with one featuring Barrâs family. The headline reads âKentucky Tough, Kentucky First, Always.â
The shift comes after Barr ran in a tough Republican primary, in which all three GOP candidates tried to position themselves as most aligned with the president and distance themselves from McConnell, who is retiring, to win over the MAGA base.
Trump even helped Barr across the finish line in May with an endorsement just weeks before the Kentucky Republican primary.
While itâs not uncommon for campaigns to make some changes to court more moderate voters after the primary season ends, the move to scrub Trumpâs image is a dramatic step for a candidate who spent so much time touting his MAGA credentials.
The Republican House member and Senate candidate not only removed Trumpâs image from his homepage but also updated the âMeet Andyâ section of his website and deleted mentions of the president.
âNow more than ever, Andy believes it is critical for Kentuckians to have a strong and proven leader representing them â a Senator who will fight for limited government and stand with President Trump,â his website previously read in July, according to the Daily Beastâs review of his old website.
âAndy was the first member of the Kentucky delegation to endorse President Trump in 2024, and he served as the Chairman of Trumpâs primary campaign in the Commonwealth. Andy has consistently fought to advance the America First agenda in the House and will be the Presidentâs biggest advocate in the Senate,â it continued.
However, all the copy mentioning Trump on the âMeet Andyâ section had been deleted by August.
While Barr removed the prominent image of him with Trump at the top of the page, the website still briefly notes lower down on the page that Barr was the first member of the Kentucky delegation to endorse Trump and was the Kentucky chair of his 2024 campaign.
In response to the Daily Beastâs questions about the website changes, Barrâs campaign provided a statement.
âKentuckians know that Andy Barr is proud to have President Trumpâs endorsement. Heâs laser focused on defending Kentucky common sense versus crazy Socialism,â said Alex Bellizzi, communications director for the campaign. âAndy Barr canât wait to keep fighting for Kentucky alongside President Trump as our next U.S. Senator.â
Barr is not the only Kentucky Republican to edit his website to downplay Trump ties. The GOP candidate looking to replace Barr in Kentuckyâs 6th Congressional District, Ralph Alvarado, also recently removed a prominent image of Trump and mentions of his long MAGA history dating back to the 2016 campaign.
California Republican Rep. James Gallagher quietly removed mention of Trumpâs endorsement from his website ahead of the November midterms. Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie also removed some MAGA talking points from his website in July as candidates make their final sprint to the finish line this fall.
The Cook Political Report rates the Kentucky Senate race âSolid Republican.â A Democrat has not won a Senate race to represent the state since 1992, but Kentucky voters reelected Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in 2023.
The Kentucky race has also gained greater attention following McConnellâs June 14 hospitalization. The 84-year-old senator has not been seen publicly since.
