Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, who is vying against Democrat Charles Booker to succeed Mitch McConnell in the U.S. Senate, told attendees at the Republican Party of Pike County that losing McConnell's seat would mean the loss of the country.
In his speech at the Coal Run Community Park, Barr painted the race between him and Booker as a race between "crazy" and "common sense."
"If we lose a Republican seat from Kentucky in the Senate, we will lose the Senate," Barr said. "And if we lose the Senate, we will lose our country — that is what is at stake."
Barr said Booker's policies are supported by only a small group in Kentucky and that Booker is a "socialist."
Barr said the way for America to move forward is a series of policies that include tax cuts, deregulation, energy dominance, affordable housing and innovation.
Barr also told the crowd that coal must make a comeback so that the nation can be competitive in supporting new technologies.
That, he said, will help restore Eastern Kentucky's economy.
"Some say that the coal industry is dead, and don't look back and don't preach false hope," he said. "And it is true that it's going to be hard to bring back the coal industry, and why?...