Kentucky lawmakers, candidates weigh in on Trump's first 100 days
President Donald Trump declared victory this week as he marked 100 days into his second term.
“This is the best, they say, hundred-day start of any president in history and everyone is saying it,” Trump said Tuesday, April 29 in Michigan. “We’ve just gotten started.”
Rep. Andy Barr, R-Lexington, who recently launched a bid to replace outgoing Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in 2026, said the president is delivering on promises many of his constituents voted for.
“They wanted this agenda,” Barr said. “They wanted to reduce the size and scope of government. They wanted better trade deals. They want to extend the tax cuts. They want to get inflation under control and they want to secure the border.”
Back in Barr’s district, many Kentuckians concerned about the firing of federal employees, the dismantling of government agencies and other changes under the Trump administration, have gathered in recent weeks at town halls not planned or attended by the congressional representative.
Barr said he continues to meet with constituents in small groups and wants them to share their views.
The congressional representative is running against former Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron in the Senate primary, and both candidates told Spectrum News they’re working to earn the president’s endorsement.
Cameron told Spectrum News in an interview this week that he would categorize the president’s first 100 days as “phenomenal.”
“President Trump came into the White House on a mission to look out for the men and women of this country,” Cameron said. “Border crossings are down at a historic low level … He’s reshaping our economy to look out for the working men and women of this country.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, called the president’s first 100 days an “unmitigated disaster.”
“The costs of our goods are going up,” McGarvey said. “He said he was going to stop the war in Ukraine; he has not. In fact, he’s been bending the knee to Vladimir Putin. People did not vote for the terrible performance they’re getting from Donald Trump.”
So far, one high-profile Democrat has tossed her hat in the ring for Senate.
State Rep. Pamela Stevenson, D-Louisville, told Spectrum News in a statement that 100 days in, she’s concerned about the economy.
“Our focus needs to be on lowering costs and building a stronger economy for our workers and we haven’t seen that,” she said.