Kentucky.

Tonight I'm Renee Shaw and we thank you so much for joining us this evening.

Kentucky will have a new United States Senator in January of 2027 with the retirement of Senator Mitch McConnell after seven terms.

Tonight, you'll hear from some of the candidates seeking to serve Kentucky in the U.S.

Senate.

In a half hour, you will hear from three of the Democratic candidates.

Three Republicans met our criteria to appear Andy Barr Daniel Cameron and Nate Morris.

Mr.

Cameron accepted our invitation to participate.

He served as Kentucky's 51st attorney general and was the 2023 Republican nominee for governor.

We certainly want to hear from you tonight.

You can send us your questions and comments by X, formerly Twitter, at Pub Affairs KET.

Send an email to KY tonight at ket.org or use the web form at ket.org, Johnny Nash KY tonight.

Or you can simply give us a call at one (800) 494-7605.

We'll welcome.

Mr.

Cameron, it's good to have you back on the set, Renee.

>> It's always a pleasure to be here, if I may.

I told Theodore that I wish him a good night here at KET tonight.

So, Theodore.

Good night.

Rest well and I'll see you in the morning.

>> Well, while you're talking about your kids, you have a newest addition.

So give the voters who may just be tuning in right now to this race a little bit about your background and your family background.

>> So I obviously served as the attorney General here from end of 2019 through 2023, standing up for constitutional rights and common sense values, and had the opportunity to help bring in nearly $900 million to Kentucky to fight the opioid epidemic.

It was when I ran in 2019.

It was the comment that I would make on the trail was that this was the public safety challenge of our lifetime to fight the drug epidemic, and certainly was proud of the effort that we undertook there to bring in that money.

I was standing up for constitutional rights when Governor Beshear was shutting down our churches.

I was able to go into court and get our churches reopened in nine days, alongside a lot of you at home that were encouraging and praying for us.

So I've had a track record of standing firm for the values of the men, women and children of our 120 counties, and would be honored to be able to do that in the United States Senate.

And this is a family commitment.

As you mentioned, we've my wife, Mackenzie, and I have three boys now.

A lot of you all know about Theodore, our oldest, who is four.

Bennett, who will be two here in a couple of weeks.

And then our youngest, Harrison, who is eight weeks old.

So we've got a busy household, that's for sure.

>> And you certainly you've got a busy schedule.

We'll get right down to business.

When we look at the fundraising for this campaign, you are trailing candidates Morris and Barr at this juncture.

But recently you were leading in the polls for Kentucky voters who assume that your campaign coffers reflect your electability, explain to them why that is true or false.

>> Well, I'm going to win this race.

There's no question in my mind we're going to have the resources.

We raise millions of dollars, and I've got more Kentucky donors than anyone else in this race, and we feel really good about where we sit right now.

And as I travel the Commonwealth and talk to people all across the state, what they care about is a candidate who is focused on them.

The money that's been spent in this race is a lot of you all can attest to has been spent attacking personal grievances, airing their grievances on television.

And I know from speaking with a lot of you all, you care deeply about a candidate that is focused on the issues that you talk about at your dinner table.

So that's what I've been talking about.

The same things that me and Mackenzie talk about at our dinner table, whether it's keeping more of your hard earned money in your pocket so that you can pay for groceries and gas, or ensure that you can save a little more for the long haul, or maintaining energy independence in this Commonwealth and country so that we can fuel the technologies of the future, making sure that when it comes to the Save America Act, that we pass it because we want to ensure the integrity of our elections.

Standing up for the law enforcement community.

I've had a track record of doing that, even when it's difficult.

Even when folks were protesting on my front lawn or threatening to burn our house down, we did what was right for our law enforcement community.

And, you know, again, based on that track record, that I'll stand firm for their values in Washington as well.

And so that's what I've been focused on.

And again, we are going to have the resources to win.

I'm excited about where we are.

As you noted, we've been leading in the majority of the polls, and that's because of my track record.

And look, I don't I'm not a millionaire and I don't have billionaire friends or lobbyists or interest groups that are supporting this campaign.

But what we do have tf Kentuckians all across this Commonwealth.

>> Well, you did mention key issues, and I do want to try to get to those.

So if we can try to keep our answers pretty brief.

Let's talk about your record.

Before becoming Attorney General.

Mr.

Cameron, you were a spokesperson for Kentucky Smart on Crime, a coalition of more than a dozen groups that were progressive and conservative.

The group sought to push legislative reforms to, quote, support common sense alternatives to incarceration for low level offenses.

In a 2017 w a s TV interview, you said, we have a money bail system.

We want to move to a no money bail system.

If you're poor, you stay in jail.

But if you got money and a violent offender, you still might get out.

Are your views and positions on criminal justice reform particularly?

No money bail the same now as they were in 2017?

Why or why not?

>> Well, this is originates from an attack ad from Congressman Barr's team.

And it's silly, frankly.

I mean, everyone who knows my relationship with the law enforcement community knows that I stand firm for them.

I've got over 100 law enforcement officials that have endorsed this campaign for the United States Senate.

I'm grateful to have their support.

You know, my position has been very clear when it comes to police and law enforcement.

It can be summed up in an old Waylon Jennings song that starts out with, I'm for Law and order the way that it should be, and I'm the law and order candidate in this race.

There is no doubt about that.

And regardless of what silly ads are on television, people know my track record.

And as I talked about earlier, I did the difficult thing when other candidates that were in this race were either supporting BLM or talking about the law enforcement community as them being racist, which Andy Barr did back in 2020.

I was doing the right thing, which was standing firm for them and our constitutional rights.

And that's why so many in the law enforcement community support me.

>> Well, speaking of law enforcement, I want to go to January 6th, 2021.

According to data from the Department of Justice, during the January 6th, 2020 insurrection, as some would call it, more than 140 police officers were assaulted, 608 were charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement, 174 were charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer.

As a former attorney general of this state who say you are the law and order candidate who always backs the blue, how do you describe the events of January 6th, 2021?

>> Well, I describe them as have been being in the past and what I think often is missed in the midst of this conversation is that in 2020, what I'm familiar with is the looting and burning that was happening in Louisville, Kentucky, and there weren't a lot of arrests there.

And what I'm convinced of and committed to is ensuring that when it comes to the United States Senate, that our law enforcement community has someone there that is standing firm for their values.

And that's the track record that I've demonstrated over the course of my time in public life.

And obviously, we'll continue to do that if I'm given the opportunity to serve there in Washington.

>> Do you approve of the presidential pardons that were issued by President Trump for some of those who participated, participated in January 6th?

>> I support President Trump and grateful for the efforts that he has undertaken to stand firm for law enforcement for rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in government to make sure that, you know, when it comes to the hard working men and women of this this Commonwealth and this country, that they have a president in the white House that's standing firm for them.

He's worried about the economy.

He's worried about making sure that when it comes to public safety and when it comes to immigration, that we're securing that southern border.

I mean, there's a reason that border crossings that have been at a historic low, it's because we have a president, a new president that is focused on that southern border.

So I appreciate and respect and support President Trump and will continue to do so if I have an opportunity to serve in Washington.

>> Do you approve of the tactics that he's used with immigration enforcement?

Some that even some conservatives and Republicans have called out as going too far?

>> Look, I support President Trump's effort.

Look, he this is a president that ran on ensuring that we got our immigration crisis under control.

I mean, if you look back during the Biden administration, there was rampant lawlessness at our southern border.

And this is something that was really impactful to me when I was the attorney general.

I mean, you talk about fentanyl making its way across the southern border and then hurting people in communities all across the Commonwealth.

In fact, when I was the AG, I actually wrote to the Biden administration demanding that they label the Scott and Sinaloa cartels as domestic terrorist organizations.

That didn't happen during that administration because Joe Biden was weak on border security.

But now we have a president that is taking decisive action.

And so I support President Trump's efforts.

I think we need to fully support and fully fund sea ice and CBP to to make sure that when it comes to illegals that are here, they have to go back.

We've got to start respecting the rule of law in this country.

And again, it's about law and order.

I stand firm for law and order and will do so in the United States Senate.

>> You mentioned in your opening remarks about the Save act.

This is the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act that's being debated in the Senate.

Its goal is to make sure that only U.S.

citizens vote in federal elections, which has been a federal crime since 1996.

It will require individuals to have documented forms of identification, like passports or birth certificates, in order to register to vote or to renew their registration information.

Since non-citizen voting is already a federal crime, in your view, what specific gaps exist where the Save act is necessary?

>> Well, the Save America Act is necessary to ensure that everyday Americans have trust in the electoral process.

I mean, I talk to people all across Kentucky.

I mean, this is a real issue.

I talk to people all across this Commonwealth that say that they want to see the Save America Act passed.

It's not some fiction that, you know, people are obviously, you know, trying to make light of a situation.

This is a serious matter that Kentuckians want to see passed.

And I think we need to pass the Save America Act by any means necessary to ensure the integrity of our elections.

And I've talked to at length about that.

But this is about giving certainty and confidence to people across this Commonwealth that have had concerns about the elections.

This is a way to provide that certainty, and I'm confident that if I get in the United States Senate, amongst others that are there as well, we can get that passed on behalf of the American people.

>> As you know, Kentucky has its own election laws that require photo ID and and those types of things.

Republican Michael Adams, Secretary of state, helped push those through the Save act, probably would cost money for states to implement, as they would have to check these federal databases to ensure that citizens are voting.

That's going to be a cost.

Would you support having the federal government subsidize states for those actions?

>> Well, I think the people at home expect the federal government to work hard to secure our elections.

And so the way that we can do that is to pass the Save America Act.

And it's very simple.

This is, you know, a common sense piece of legislation, whether you're Republican, Democrat or independent.

I think most people think that we need to ensure the integrity of our elections, and that's why it's picked up so much steam in the Senate.

And that's why as I go across Kentucky, I hear of so many people, frankly, when I'm on the trail and having these conversations, that's one of the biggest issues that people want to talk about is how can we get this passed to ensure the integrity of our elections and to provide more confidence for the American people when it comes to going to the polls.

>> As you know, President Trump has made a lot of hay about mail in ballots, even though he has voted several times by mail.

In the end of March, he issued a new executive order related to federal elections that instructs the U.S.

Postal Service to determine who may vote by mail, and instructs it to refuse to deliver ballots sent to anyone not included on newly created federal mail voter lists.

And there are actions that are punishable by criminal penalties.

Do you believe that President Trump has the constitutional authority to regulate and take over mail in ballots?

>> Well, what President Trump on this issue or a lot of other topics that have become a part of the bureaucracy of Washington, is he's trying to root out waste, fraud and abuse.

And I think there are a lot of people that are concerned about fraud within our election system.

And again, this is a way and a measure in which President Trump, in addition to what could occur if we were able to pass the Save America Act, is trying to ensure the integrity of our elections.

And he ran strongly on ensuring that integrity.

I think it's important that we have someone in the white House that not only says things on the campaign trail, but also does them.

That's the great thing about President Trump is, you know, he's he's willing to go in and do the hard things, whether it's on this topic or Iran or Venezuela.

This is a president that's standing firm for the American people.

And I know people all across this Commonwealth appreciate his efforts on the electoral process and what we can do to reduce fraud.

>> Turning to a different topic, we have this question about hospitals being at risk.

The question from a viewer is what can be done to protect local hospitals?

With the decrease in reimbursement due to the big, beautiful bill that was passed by Congress last year?

>> Well, as your viewer knows that obviously we've got to be very make sure that we take care of our rural hospital system.

And I think one of the important things to note is that there's obviously a fund available to our rural hospital providers to help them stabilize.

In the midst of some of the changes that are occurring at the national level.

But in addition to that, you know, what I'm also been talking a lot about is the importance of reforming the PBM process, the pharmacy benefit managers process, to ensure that we reduce the cost of drugs for senior citizens.

Frankly, for everyone, I talked to a lot of people across the state that are concerned about just the rise in those costs, and a few days ago, I unveiled a PBM reform piece of legislation that I want to see that is moved forward in the United States Senate.

There's some activity on it in the House, but they need a champion in the Senate on that front.

Again, this is a measure that can help whether you're a rural hospital or you are a rural pharmacist, an independent pharmacist.

This can help ensure that we reduce the price of drugs and so that there's accountability in that space as well as it relates to reimbursements for for those drug prices.

So this is an important step that I can hopefully will be taken to ensure some stability within the market related to prescription drugs, but also help our health care providers more broadly.

>> Today, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul introduced what is called the bipartisan Hemp Safety Enforcement Act that empowers states and tribal governments to regulate, ensure the safety of hemp and hemp derived products, he said in a press release issued today.

It's, quote, to prevent a looming federal crackdown from shutting down a thriving, multibillion dollar American industry.

Are you for or against that idea?

>> Well, this is the first time I'm hearing about the specific legislation.

I obviously want to to look at it, but I do support what Congressman Comer and our great AG Commissioner, Jonathan Shell, put forth a little while ago, which was a letter to the federal government basically saying that we need to delay some of the decisions that were made to to change the rules related to hemp precisely for the product that's already in the ground.

And the farmers that are working on that product, the change that was made, I think if you talk to a lot of people that are in the industry, say that they were caught off guard by it.

And so I think it's important to have a little bit of delay such that, again, we can get that product out of the ground and we can make sure that our farmers are paid for that product and that there's no disruption in that market that is exists at this current juncture.

But again, I'd be happy to look at that particular piece of legislation and see what I think is important as a member of the United States Senate, is that you can be a convening authority, someone that can get the hemp industry into a room along with us.

In this particular case, those that are in the bourbon and spirits industry and make sure that we can come to, in fashion, some agreement that ultimately will ensure that we stabilize a market that the hemp folks have been utilizing, but also ensures that there's a landscape available that protects our children and makes sure that we aren't going above the THC levels that the farm bill intended.

>> Speaking of a signature industry report at the end of March, found that Trump's trade policies had a crippling effect on Kentucky's signature industry.

Bourbon exports of American whiskey fell by 19% last year, down to $250 million.

Overall, spirits were down 3.8%, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S.

Do you stand by President Trump on all his tariff policies that could even be damaging the 3000 plus small craft distilleries who may not be able to bounce back as much and withstand prolonged trade policies and wars.

>> Well, Renee, let me take a step back and talk about we talk obviously about the tariffs, but I think we need to look at the Trump economic agenda more broadly.

If you look at what has occurred since he's been in the white House, we've seen $17 trillion worth of investment come back to the United States.

200 billion of that has been because of the tariff policies themselves.

We've seen revenues come back into the United States, 2.5 billion has gone to Harrodsburg Kentucky for Corning Glass.

If you pull out your iPhone, the glass that is on that iPhone is going to be made at that Corning glass facility in Harrodsburg in Mercer County.

That's $2.5 billion worth of investment that have come that's come here to Kentucky because of the Trump economic agenda.

And then you think about the Ford plant, $2 billion there that's helping secure 2200 jobs at that Ford plant.

Again, that's a part of the Trump economic agenda.

And what President Trump came into the white House to do was to repair the damage that was done during the Biden administration.

With so many trade imbalances that existed during that administration, again, he ran on the idea that we would no longer, as American citizens, be taken advantage of by foreign adversaries or allies.

We have to stand firm for the interest of the American people.

And so I support the Trump economic agenda.

And of course, look, I was with some farmers a few a couple of days ago, we did a press unveil as it relates to our policy on on in the ag industry.

And one of the people there said, look, President Trump heard our issues or questions related to the tariff policy, and they made some changes.

I bring that up because this is a president that is constantly making decisions in support of the American people.

This is a president that is working daily to ensure that everyone in this economy has an opportunity to thrive, and I support him wholeheartedly.

>> Some farmers are concerned about losing money, and because of the war in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz being restricted access and some of that critical fertilizer, not being able to get to them, which could end up driving up prices and creating a food crisis.

How do you respond to that?

Do you support getting to the Iran war now, the president's tactics and approach?

What is what are his objectives?

And are we winning this war as you see it?

>> Well, let me step back for a second and talk about look, as the next United States senator from the Commonwealth, I want to make sure our farmers know I'm going to fight tooth and nail to not just get a reauthorization of the 2018 farm bill.

We need a new farm bill that takes into consideration the changes related to crop insurance and other issues that need to be addressed in a new farm bill.

So you have my commitment that if given the opportunity, I'm going to ask, number one, to serve on the AG Committee.

And number two, work doggedly and persistently to make sure we get a new farm bill on Iran.

Look, I support President Trump.

This is a president who has had the fortitude to take decisive action when others simply didn't take that action.

He recognized that since the late 1970s, there was a regime in Iran that was not only threatening, but actually harming and killing and maiming our American citizens and our American servicemen and women.

And he said, enough is enough.

And I appreciate the president taking that decisive action to, in many ways, incapacitate a leadership or the leadership of the Iranian regime to ensure that the naval capabilities have been diminished, to also limit their ballistic capability.

And of course, there's more work to be done.

But again, the idea was that this president saw that you could not have an Iranian regime that was focused on enriching uranium so that they could get a nuclear weapon, he said.

Enough is enough.

I'm grateful to President Trump for taking that action, and I appreciate Vice President Vance and the work that he has done on the negotiations front to make sure that we can end this war.

But what is ultimately important here is that this president took action on behalf of the American people for our national security interests, because you cannot have a nuclear Iran.

>> The president had also said and promised during the campaign that there will be no new foreign wars.

And in fact, some very notable conservative influencers Megyn Kelly, Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene and others have criticized President Trump for engaging in this conflict where perhaps he did not communicate that to the people when he had an opportunity days after his state of the Union address, he didn't use that as a platform to come to the American people and explain why and the objectives and the exit strategy.

Do you feel comfortable in the leadership that he has provided and the communication that some say he has not provided about this war and how we get out of it?

>> Well, I look at a president.

>> That has done more or has been more available to the press than Joe Biden ever was during his four year term in office.

And I appreciate the president who uses regular media and sit down interviews to communicate his message and press conferences and what have you to communicate his message.

But at the end of the day, you know, the president wanted to take decisive action in Iran.

You know, what I think is important is that this is not going to be a forever war.

You know, the large premise of President Trump, particularly on the issues that we'd seen in previous confrontations, is that they lingered forever.

And there were sometimes blank checks attached to those military confrontations.

And this is a president that has said very firmly that this will not be a forever war, that the national security interest of the American people is at stake, because we cannot have a regime in Iran that has a nuclear weapon.

And so, again, I support the president.

I think he's doing what he has committed to over the course of the campaign trail, which was to keep the American people safe.

Again, whether it's on immigration, whether it's on our national security related to foreign adversaries, this is a president that is going to keep the American people safe.

>> I'll give you a moment to give some closing remarks, but a final question to you.

As you know, Kentucky lawmakers have approved a statue of U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell to be placed in the state Capitol when the renovations are complete.

Republican leaders just on this program last week said that, like him or not, Mitch McConnell is the most politically influential and consequential Kentuckian and perhaps American.

You worked for Senator Mitch McConnell.

You know him.

Do you agree that he's deserving of such an honor in the state Capitol?

>> Well, I'm not in the state legislature, but here's what I'll say about Senator McConnell.

Of course, you know, it's been documented about some of you know, I said he was wrong on a few votes, and folks on his team didn't necessarily like that.

But that's okay.

And they've decided to support Congressman Barr.

But that's okay.

What I will say about Senator McConnell is that he had the fortitude to say no to the nomination of Merrick Garland to the United States Supreme Court, and that was a very strong decision that he made.

And it changed in many ways, the path of the United States Supreme Court.

And I don't think anyone can doubt the strength of conviction that he laid forward as it relates to that case and how it's ultimately changed our Supreme Court.

>> Well, Daniel Cameron, thank you for being here this evening.

We appreciate your participation.

>> Thank you.

>> And after this break, you will hear from some of the Democratic candidates for U.S.

Senate.

So please stay with us.

Good journalism makes all of us feel more connected and helps us understand each other a little bit better.

That's our mission.

That's our service.

We strive to be thoughtful with the stories we tell and the voices we elevate.

We provide context.

We give perspective.

KET has a rich legacy as a trusted public service, and is the place the Commonwealth turns to.

For information.

[MUSIC] >> This week on Kentucky Life, we'll look at the official state music instrument, the dulcimer, and how it's so perfectly captures the sounds of Appalachia.

We'll introduce you to Verna Mae Sloan, a writer known as the Grandmother Moses of the mountains.

We'll show you around the setting for this week's show, Fort Boonesborough and Richmond, and we'll explore the hidden underground world of the bluegrass that could be right under your own feet.

Join us for Kentucky Life Saturday.

>> Eight seven central on KET.

>> Curse of connection is a video series.

[MUSIC] >> And it tells you exactly how to write each cursive letter, and it gives you a sentence to write.

>> It's predictable and consistent.

The cursive writing worksheets print those off ahead of time.

That's all the prep you have to really do.

It really is plug and play.

>> Cursive is very much needed.

I think it just helps you in general, kind of giving you a broad spectrum of what you can read and what you can write.

>> It's a basic skill that we all need to be able to just have a resource at your fingertips.

Like that is priceless.

>> On the next edition of The Farmer and the Foodie.

>> We head back to school to visit with the next generation of farmers.

>> Everything that we can utilize from our farm.

The students will take that and run with it.

>> Then back to the kitchen for some autumn inspired creations.

It's decadent, but it's delicious.

>> The farmer and the foodie Saturday three 3230 central on KET Kentucky edition weeknights six 3530 central on KET.

>> On masterpiece.

>> Eyes on the camera please.

>> There is much to be grateful for.

>> But I cannot pretend it's what I would have chosen.

>> Your wife has a mind of her own.

>> Chaos can be the mother of inspiration.

>> You will refrain from discussing our arrangement.

>> Paul Francis.

She's never managed to tame him.

>> Trust me.

I have a plan.

Only a fool would underestimate you.

>> The Forsyth's the season finale on Masterpiece.

>> Sunday, nine eight central on KET.

>> Next time on Antiques Roadshow.

American treasures spanning the history of the USA are in the spotlight.

>> You're kidding.

>> It's such an incredible piece of American history.

>> Watch Antiques Roadshow 250 Years of Americana.

>> Thursday, eight seven central on KET.

>> I love Kentucky stories, and oftentimes it's the KET program that best tells the story of Kentucky.

KET is so deep rooted and they have so much programing that is just pure Kentucky.

>> Kentucky culture is really special and really unique, and KET tells stories that might not otherwise be told.

>> KET celebrates all of Kentucky.

>> From a small spark kindled in America.

[MUSIC] A flame has arisen not to be extinguished.

>> To believe in America is to believe in possibility.

>> Tuesday, eight seven central on KET.

>> The horses, the hats and of course, the history.

This week on Inside Louisville, we go inside the iconic Churchill Downs with racetrack president Mike Anderson.

Learn how the track is balancing more than 150 years of tradition with modern innovation and expansion.

Find out where renovation plans stand after a halt last year because of economic uncertainty and some of the changes you'll see at the track this derby week.

>> Sunday noon 11 central on KET.

>> Buckle up.

This is going to be a lot of fun.

>> It's go time.

>> Bring us up to speed.

>> On some exciting news for us.

>> And much more.

>> We have the most ridiculous creature.

>> I hope you're referring to the dog.

>> I need your help.

>> Go on.

Do you wish you were still a doctor?

Yes.

>> It's the defining event of our history.

>> A city that reflects a great achievement.

>> Oh.

>> Are you serious?

>> We can do remarkable things together.

>> We have never wasted our time together.

>> KET.

Where learning comes to life.

>> Well, thank you for staying with us on Kentucky tonight.

I'm Renee Shaw, and welcome back.

Three Democratic candidates met our criteria to appear and accepted our invitation.

They are Amy McGrath, a Colonel, a retired colonel in the U.S.

Marine Corps, a U.S.

House candidate in 2018, and a U.S.

Senate candidate in 2020.

Dale Romans, a thoroughbred horse trainer, and Charles Booker, who will join us shortly.

He's a former Kentucky state representative and a candidate for the U.S.

Senate in 2020 and 2022.

You can still send your questions and comments by X, formerly Twitter, at Pub Affairs KET.

Send an email to KY Tonight at ket.org JAG, or use the web form at KET dot Johnny Nash KY tonight.

Or you may give us a call at one (800) 494-7605.

Welcome, candidates, we appreciate you being here this evening.

Want to get right down to it?

This open seat offers a chance for Kentuckians to choose a new U.S.

senator, perhaps, who offers a fresh, outsider perspective.

Miss McGrath, while you haven't served in Washington, some would perceive you as being too connected to the Democratic establishment and political apparatus and wonder if you could vote independently with Kentuckians first in mind.

What's your response to that?

>> Well, first of all, let me just start out by saying thank you for for doing this.

Thank you to PBS and the KET.

And I think that anybody that's running for this, such an important seat as the United States Senate, should be in front of voters in the way that you have this forum.

So I appreciate being here because what's happening in our country is dangerous and not normal.

And we have so many things going on in our country right now, challenges that we have to address.

I'm somebody who has served my country.

I have 20 years in the United States Marine Corps.

I did work in Washington as a congressional fellow, as a as a United States Marine.

And so I do know how things work.

But what we need is someone who's going to be a voice for everyday Kentuckians someone who is going to stand up and say, hey, I'm.

I. Loyalty is to Kentucky and to Kentucky only not to a political party, not to a billionaire, not to Mar a Lago, but to Kentuckians and Kentuckians only.

And so that's what I would say to anyone that thinks my loyalty is somewhere else.

>> For those who question, since you have made previous runs to be in Washington and that weren't successful, why this time should they take send you to Washington?

What's different about who you are now as a candidate, and how you might govern if sent to Washington?

>> Well, I think the climate is different.

Number one, what we're seeing in our country is, is not normal and dangerous.

Yes.

I did not win against Mitch McConnell, the 2040 year incumbent who had all of the money, unlimited money during a year in which we were all shut down.

If you remember in Covid when my campaign couldn't even go door to door because things were shut down.

Try running a campaign in Kentucky when you can't get out and talk to voters.

I think things are very different now, and I'm excited because you know what's happening in our country.

People are seeing it and the prices for everything are up.

We've got health care with Kentuckians are losing their health care left and right and Kentuckians know that what these guys in Washington are doing right now is not helping us.

And so I do think, look, we have an incredible Democratic governor here in Andy Beshear, who's been able to win twice in an off cycle, a very similar electorate to this midterm coming up.

And he's been able to do that by talking about the things that matter to voters.

And that's what this is all about.

That and experience in national security.

And I think that's what's going to win this thing.

>> And we'll dive down a little deeper into some of those issues that you raised.

Mr.

Romans, thank you for being here this evening.

We want to give you a chance to introduce yourself.

Viewers may not know you as well, but I will just start off by saying that you have called yourself an independent Democrat.

I want you to define that for us.

And you've said that you are an unorthodox, unorthodox candidate who brings a PhD in Life rather than a typical political resume to this race.

Tell us more.

>> Yeah, I'm Dale Romans and thank you for having me, Renee.

I'm running for office for the first time.

One thing I agree with Trump on it was time to drain the swamp.

That's what he used to say when his first when he was running for his first term.

And it's swampier now than it's ever been.

It's time to try something different.

And Democratic Party, it's time to try something different for the country.

Someone who's never been in office but has been a leader in their industry, has done all the work that needs to be done, understands small business, building it from the ground up, that understands the needy.

Mother grew up with a single mother that raised three boys paycheck to paycheck, and I think our country is just ready for a different type of politician.

As far as independent Democrat goes.

That means that coming from a red state like Kentucky, you're independent of the party.

You don't have to be beholden to the party.

I like to say sort of like Joe Manchin was in West Virginia, that you can go vote for what's right for Kentucky and also reach across the line.

I mean, I'm sure you'll hear tonight a lot of talk about I can fight, I can fight, I'm strong enough to fight, but I want to go up there and work.

I don't want to fight for the sake of fighting.

I think it takes a lot more strength to reach across the aisle and work with someone you might disagree with than it does just to fight, just to be fighting.

>> And since you have not run for political office or held political office, how would you or how are you prepared to skillfully navigate that machinery in Washington, DC?

To be an effective leader and to represent the people of Kentucky?

>> Webb skillfully navigate a pretty tough industry here in Kentucky and the thoroughbred horse industry, both as a horse trainer and a leader of our biggest horsemen's group, I think that I'll surround myself with the right people.

I think that I have a knack for solving problems, fixing problems, and working with others.

And I think when you get to Washington, I'll be able to figure it out pretty quick, the political side of it.

>> If elected, how do you envision yourself working with U.S.

Senator Rand Paul, Republican?

Do you envision yourself working.

>> With him?

Envision myself working with him every day, if possible, and every other Republican who's willing to work and we'll find our common ground and we'll sit down and work through our differences.

You can't force people to change their mind, but you can help lead them your direction.

>> Any particular issue on which you could see you could force a collaboration.

>> Immigration would be an easy one, I think.

I think the Kentucky needs an immigrant workforce.

I think that the whole thing has turned upside down and we need to fix it.

I think it's a three step program.

I think first thing we need to do is make sure the the border is secure.

I think the Trump administration has done a pretty good job of that.

Secondly, we need to deal with the people who are here undocumented.

And I think that there's an easy program for that, that if you would be sponsored by an employer and if you would pass a vetting process, you're paying taxes, you're not causing any trouble.

We give you an annual renewable visa that you as long as that job is necessary for you to do that, you'll get the visa.

That would be good for for small businesses, it would be good for labor.

And instead of deporting all the time, we'll start documenting people who contribute to our society.

I think that's an issue that Rand Paul and I could work on, and I don't think the president has thus far, far off on that issue.

I think it's Stephen Miller behind the scenes that's pushing everything down the president's throat to do the things he's done with Ice and to create, create the problem that we have with immigration.

>> Do you favor the tactics and the approach of immigration enforcement that has been carried out so far under the Trump administration?

>> Absolutely not.

First of all, I don't understand it.

We should be going after all murderers and drug dealers.

We don't need to take and make Ice the nation's police force to go out and hunt down people just because of the color of their skin, and start arresting people.

Absolutely not.

But the Third Third part of that equation is that we need a complete overhaul.

But first, the border needs to be secure.

We need to document people that should be documented there are here undocumented, and then do a complete immigration reform.

And that's something I think Rand Paul and I could work on.

I don't believe in abolishing all of ice because you have to put something in place, but we need to put it back on the border where it belongs, what they're trained to do, they're not trained to be the nation's police force.

>> Miss McGrath, I want to give you a chance to talk about immigration, but I do want to pose the question to you about working with Kentuckians now junior, then Senior Senator Rand Paul.

How do you see collaborating with him on what issues do you think you could work together?

>> The one that that is glaring is this war in Iran and the use of military force around the world without consent of Congress?

You know, Senator Paul has been pretty outspoken about this as a veteran, as someone who's fought in three combat tours, I'm really outspoken about this.

We we absolutely need to rein this president in.

Congress, under the Constitution has the power to declare war.

And what this president has done is, is with drone strikes and strikes and killing people in the Caribbean and now starting a war in Iran, which is the biggest strategic failure in my lifetime, is really just terrible.

And so that would be a place where I can.

But I could also work with him on the tariffs.

You know, he's been outspoken on that.

The tariffs hurt our bourbon industry.

They hurt our our farmers.

They hurt all of us at the checkout.

And again, this is something that Congress should be doing not the president.

And so we've got to check this president.

He has way and gone in way overreached here in so many areas.

And that's where I could work with with Senator Paul.

>> Along those lines, in recent news cycles, there's been some discussions about whether and how Democrats should embrace former allies of President Trump.

You look at folks like Marjorie Taylor Green and others who consider them part of the Maga movement.

How would you embrace those who are part of the Maga movement?

Being an independent Democrat?

Mr.

Romans, do you see that there's ways to do that, and what would they be?

>> You know, I would work with anybody.

As I said before, Marjorie Taylor Green has seen the light starts leaning our way a little bit.

But yeah, when I go to Washington, I don't plan on shutting the door on anybody.

Anyone comes up with a good idea or a good program, something we should be working on.

I'm willing to work with them.

It doesn't matter if they're if they're still Maga, but they want to come with a good idea.

We're going to sit down and talk about it.

And I'm not just going to slam the door in the face of anybody, because anybody could come up with a good idea, a good program that would help the country.

>> Are there ideas that you have identified within the Maga movement, Colonel McGrath, that you could get behind?

>> Well, I'm not a fan of the Maga movement.

Okay.

But I will say this people who voted for Donald Trump many times and people who were in in the Maga movement, look, this is our president betrayed them and betrayed us.

Many of the things that he ran on, let's just let's just name a few, okay?

No more wars.

Wow.

Where did that go?

He just started one that we aren't winning.

By the way, what about the Epstein files?

You know, he said he would release them.

He didn't do it.

He said he would get prices down.

He said he would tackle inflation.

What has that done?

Everything has gone up.

The price for for groceries has gone up for rent has gone up.

Our power bills have gone up.

He's taken away health care.

So I think there's a lot of of betrayal there.

And so I feel like if people see that and I and I think you're seeing that from many who voted for him, look, it's about getting getting somebody into office and flipping the House and flipping the Senate so that we can check this.

President.

>> Do you believe he's fit to be president?

>> You know, he has done a lot of things that make him unfit.

And it's scary to me, the fact that he tweeted out that we would destroy a civilization of a of another country, of another culture that that is that is super scary.

The problem right now we have, Renee, is that no one in the cabinet will do anything about it.

He has put yes men in this cabinet and they're not going to do anything.

And the other problem we have is a Congress that is Republican led, that will not stand up to him.

And if people remember one thing about me and one thing about this race is we need a senator that has the guts to stand up to Donald Trump.

And I do, you know, and that's why this is so important right now, because he is he is unhinged.

>> Does it rise to the level of impeachment?

>> I mean, I think the things that he's done absolutely rises to the level.

Here's the thing.

He's he's tweeted out that we were going to destroy a civilization.

He's doing foreign policy by tweet in the middle of the night.

He has his lies every single day.

I mean, that's he's done like 95 lies a day.

We can't believe anything that he says.

And our allies can't believe anything he says.

And, you know, this is why everything that he tweets out, we have to check because nobody knows if it's true or not.

>> Mr.

Roman's your perspective.

>> No, I don't think he's fit to be president.

I think there's a lot of people radical around him that are filling his head with things to do.

And I mean, it's straight out of the project 25 playbook, which he said he knew nothing about when he was running for office.

But as far as impeachment, it's not realistic.

I mean, we impeached him twice.

It'll be on his record forever.

But you're never going to get 60 senators to vote to to remove him from office.

So the best thing to do is take back the House and Senate, put him in a box for a couple of years until he's out of there.

We also don't want to put JD Vance in.

I mean, how much better is he going to be if he becomes the president and then maybe give him a chance to rehabilitate himself?

And we have to run against an incumbent as a Democrat.

What we need to do is win back the House, win back to Senate, put him in a box, put up a good candidate like Andy Beshear for president and take back the white House.

>> Let's talk about affordability, which is on a lot of people's minds.

While inflation is down from its peak four years ago because it was high during the Biden administration, Americans aren't parsing out economic calculations by experts.

They largely judge their view of their own personal economies by how much they pay for their groceries, how much they pay for their gas, whether they're buying a home or getting a new to them used car.

A recent CBS news poll conducted about ten days ago, found that only 32% have a good view of the economy.

63% say the condition of the U.S.

economy is, quote, bad, and 65% disapprove of President Trump's handling of the economy.

Please outline specifically Mr.

Roman's your specific ideas to get the economy working in a way that the American people and Kentuckians can feel it for the better.

>> I think one thing is the immigration reform will give small business the labor force that they need to produce products at a reasonable price.

There's a couple other things that could be done, such as we've got to figure out why diesel is so much higher than gasoline.

As the diesel goes, the economy goes because everything shifts on trucks or tractors at the farm level.

We need to do something about that and we need some affordable housing.

The tariffs have been rollback.

I mean, the country now owes $180 billion back to businesses.

The Supreme Court just ruled we've got to pay all that back.

So we need to make sure that those tariffs aren't put back in place and used improperly like they were before.

But what we need to do is bring the price of things down.

We need to build more houses.

And I think that if we went out and gave tax credits to contractors that to build affordable housing, they didn't have to make the same profit margin that they do on the regular housing, and they could use it in their larger projects.

Some ideas we need to start thinking out of the box, get some smart people in the room and figure out how to bring the prices down.

Diesel is one tariffs, one workforce is one.

You get those things going in the right direction and you'll see prices start to fall.

You know, it's not always about how much a person makes.

It's about how much you're going to have at the end of the month, how much extra you're going to have.

So we need to bring down prices and try to ease up salaries as we go along.

>> Some people say they have more money than they do money.

I want to go to you, miss McGrath, and talk about tariffs.

In a 6 to 3 ruling in February, the U.S.

Supreme Court declared unconstitutional those tariffs that are part of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Thousands of American businesses just today were probably anxiously at their keyboards, ready to log on to customs to see if they could get their share of that $166 billion billion in tariff revenue.

What they believe is their portion.

Should Congress direct a rebate or a stimulus check to consumers because businesses may get some of that money, but consumers may not should Congress directly provide a rebate check to American consumers?

>> Well, that's something that Congress should definitely look into.

Unfortunately, under the Republicans, they probably won't because consumers are the last people they really think about.

Look, these tariffs were illegal from the start.

And what damage have they done?

You know, we're past a year past this and the damage to our farmers that far.

Soybean farmers are never going to get that market back.

That soybean market that went to China.

It damages our bourbon industry.

It damages all of us at the checkout.

The average Kentuckian is spending or had to spend over $1,500 last year because of these tariffs.

So one thing we've got to do is make sure that the tariffs don't come back.

These unilateral tariffs hurt everybody.

And then with the Supreme Court saying that they're illegal yes that money is going to come back hopefully.

But where is it going to go.

It's going to go into corporations and not consumers.

And that is a real problem that Congress should address.

I don't have any confidence that this Congress will do that.

But the other things we need to do to get prices down are to make sure that we get those Affordable Care Act subsidies back, because people I have folks on my phone who have texted me their bills, and they've gone from 300 bucks last December to their premiums to $1,300.

That is completely unaffordable.

And that is something that we can do.

If we can spend $1 billion a day in a war in Iran that we don't want, that we never needed to be there, then we can afford to make the Affordable Care Act subsidies come back so that people can afford a health care.

>> Mr.

Booker, thank you for joining us.

We appreciate you being here.

We were just talking about affordability and ideas that you have specifically to get Kentuckians filling.

Maybe the economy is better statistically.

There are metrics that show the economy is doing well, but people are not feeling that that that well about the economy.

What ideas do you have to get them feeling good about the economy and benefiting from it?

>> Well, first of all, Renee, it's good to be with you.

Thank you all for understanding that it takes a lot to crisscross the Commonwealth, building a movement from the hood to the holler.

And I've yet to figure out how to clone myself, but I'm fired up to be here and honored to have a conversation that is really at the heart of why I'm even running.

A lot of folks have been struggling before Trump's administration and looking for leadership that cares about them.

That would work to put more money in their pockets, work to take on corporate greed.

And we're seeing the explosion of corruption in the Trump administration and politicians like Mitch McConnell, Daniel Cameron, Andy Barr, Nate Morris, who want to sell us out.

And so we need to do a couple of things.

One, we definitely need to roll back a lot of the damage that has been done from the Trump administration.

As my colleagues have mentioned, of course, these rolling back the tariffs and yes, the American people deserve a rebate.

They need their money back.

But then also doing the work to drive down costs and take on the fact that we have had politicians like Mitch McConnell giving corporations major tax breaks and telling regular folks to carry the burden of it.

I believe we need true living wages.

I believe we need to invest in financial freedom with policies like universal basic income.

I think we need to make sure that everyone can have quality housing and make sure that everyone has the opportunity to invest in small businesses, to launch their own organization, to do the work of investing in their communities.

And it requires leadership that sees them.

And that's why I'm running.

>> One of President Trump's most crucial voting blocs back in 2024 was the working class, those making $50,000 a year or under.

Recent CNN polling shows a 26 point swing in Trump's approval rating for working class voters, from a positive 2% point approval rating two years ago to a -24.

But even as those constituents may be having second thoughts and buyer's remorse, they still don't seem to appear to put much confidence in Democrats to make things better.

The center for Working Class Politics found that just 3.4% of working class Trump supporters would defect to Democrats.

So what specific ideas do you have to deal with the working class?

And, Mr.

Booker, I'll begin with you.

>> Well, this is one of the reasons why I've lifted up what I call a Working people's Bill of rights.

Ultimately, this is not a partizan conversation.

It is a humanity conversation.

Everybody is sick and tired.

And whether you're Democrat, Republican, independent, we're all getting screwed.

And so what I believe is that by centering working people and investing in policies that will address structural inequities, we'll find a coalition that's ready to build literally from the hood to the holler.

One thing I know is the people of Kentucky are tired of excuses.

They're tired of politicians telling them what they can't do and what's not possible.

We need real change, and we're desperate for it because people are starving.

They're hurting.

Folks are losing their homes, they're losing their livelihoods.

And so by centering policies like Medicare for all, by centering policies like universal pre-K that Governor Beshear has helped to launch across Kentucky, a campaign to educate on the importance of taking care of our children.

Doing this type of deeper work is how we can not only heal, but create a sustainable.

>> I want to go to a point that is on your platform 40 by 40 by 45, plan the jobs guarantee.

Guarantee a $45,000 minimum income for full work and at least 40 hours of paid sick time.

Wouldn't this disadvantage small businesses who already operate in very thin margins?

>> Well, I think we do multiple things at once.

We have to raise wages and we need true living wages.

And in the state House I fought for that, stood with organized labor to fight for it.

And of course, I'll do it in the US Senate.

We know that the the minimum wage now is it's it's offensive to say that anyone can survive off of $7.25.

And we know we need true living wages and we need to be innovative in how we do it.

And that also means we need to invest in small businesses as well.

And if we can give tax cuts to folks like Elon Musk, we can support our small businesses and raise wages too.

>> Working class question do you miss McGrath?

How would you deal with those who are living in the margins?

>> Sure.

Well, the first thing we need to do is get back all of the cuts that were made in this big, ugly bill that these Republicans passed last summer that hurt Kentucky the worst Bill for Kentucky in my lifetime.

The cutting of Snap benefits, the cutting of health care.

We're looking at 200,000 Kentuckians thrown off their health care with these Medicaid cuts.

We are looking at 35 rural hospitals at risk of closure or downsizing because of this.

And that affects all of us.

And so that's that's the first thing I would do.

Let's claw back those things, those cuts that Republicans made that hurt.

Kentuckians then we also need to do more than that.

We do need to raise the minimum wage, hasn't been raised in almost 20 years.

>> And raise it to what?

>> Well, you know, I think it needs to be above $12 for sure.

But I feel like, you know, we there's so many things that we can be doing at the federal level to help housing, to help people afford higher education.

The cuts that have been made hurt everyday people.

And so let's focus on getting those back and then fixing the systemic problems that we have, like health care, because health care, you know, there's a lot of Kentuckians who can't afford it.

They work full time jobs, and they're above the the threshold for Medicaid, and they can't afford health care under the Affordable Care Act now.

So let's fix a broken system that we all know is broken and driven by greed.

You know, my, my, when my father had cancer, I remember my mother struggling, fighting with the insurance companies to get him the care that he needs.

And that's not a story.

That's just mine.

That's a story of thousands of Kentuckians fighting with these insurance companies.

We have to rein them in so that we can get prices down for everyone.

>> To get to your point about raising the minimum wage to $12 an hour, critics of what they would say are artificially inflating wages and not letting the marketplace do that.

And many would say that the marketplace is already driving up wages, that a job at a retailer already starts out at $15 an hour.

If you force that minimum wage, you could end up having those workers who need more hours actually be reduced to part time.

Have you thought about the negative consequences of raising such a minimum wage to whatever level you feel is appropriate, that it may actually do more harm than good?

>> I think any time you look at public policy, you weigh the pluses and the minuses, and there's going to be minuses for certain things.

But the fact of the matter is, people should not have to work three jobs to make ends meet.

Teachers should not have to work three jobs to make ends meet.

And the minimum wage has I mean, the cost of everything has gone up.

We all know this and the minimum wage hasn't moved in almost 20 years that there's something wrong there.

We need we need to have better public policy.

>> Mr.

Romans, your economic agenda.

>> You're 100% right about the minimum wage.

That's not enough.

It's 1.3% of hourly workers in the state of Kentucky work for minimum wage.

It's political rhetoric, 40 by 40, by 40.

Unrealistic.

But we do.

What we do need to do is repeal the big ugly bill.

You were sold a bill of goods on tax cuts.

Did you really get any tax cuts out of it?

Go look at your paycheck and see if you've got a tax cut.

We need to put the tax subsidies back in for Medicaid and Medicare so everyone's premiums will go down.

The more people we have on the policies, the premiums come down.

They keep saying that it's not sustainable, but $1 billion a day War is sustainable.

People's health care is much more important than anything we have in this country.

We need to bring those prices down.

And as I said before, we need a labor force that can go out there and do a job for a reasonable price.

We need to bring the prices of diesel down.

We need to get affordable housing.

We have a 10 million shortage of housing in Kentucky in the country.

We need to start building houses, figure out a way that we have to build the houses.

And we do need pre-K, but we also need early childcare funded.

I mean, they passed it in Utah.

It's interesting.

I want to sit back and watch what goes on there and how we could do that in Kentucky or that you have early childcare.

I just had a grandson six months ago and it's unbelievable, the price of childcare, even if you can get into one.

So what do we do about it?

Do we give subsidies to people to start more childcare programs so the kids have some place to go?

There's a lot of things that can be done, but I'm running as not a politician.

I'm running as a businessman here in Kentucky, and I understand what's real, what can really happen, and what really affect people, and not the political rhetoric that we hear over and over and over.

>> Mr.

Booker, you just heard Mr.

Roman say that your plan, the 40 by 40 by 45 plan is not realistic.

Some people would say that your policies that you're presenting are too progressive and too radical.

How do you respond to that?

>> Well, there are those who make excuses, and there are those who step up with leadership to provide a vision that we need right now.

And yeah, I've heard my colleagues say that the idea of having true living wages for a 40 hour workweek is unrealistic.

But there was a time when a 40 hour workweek was unrealistic until we fought for it.

There was a time when we could not even have Medicaid and Medicare until we fought for it.

So the ideas that I'm lifting up in Medicare for all and true living wages and universal basic income, something Doctor King spoke about.

This isn't about accepting what is real from people who give us excuses.

It's about redefining what our priorities are and centering regular working people.

We're tired of BS excuses.

We need real leadership and that's why I'm in a position to win.

>> While there was ample concern about how Kentuckians and Americans can make a better living now, there's also some legitimate concern about what future generations will inherit.

America's current national debt is at nearly $39 trillion.

That equates to roughly $114,000 for every single American.

Are you concerned, Miss McGrath alarmed or just meh about the national debt?

And do you have ideas on shrinking the national debt?

>> I am alarmed on this.

You know, when I taught national security policy and when I served in the United States military, we had a chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who testified, Admiral Mullen, who testified that the biggest national security threat to our nation was our own national debt.

And I think we need to see it as a national security threat.

And so what we're doing right now in starting a war in Iran, that's already cost us $50 billion 60 days into this thing is not helping making you know the world economy blow up right now.

That's not helping.

So yes it's something that we have to look at.

>> How would you address it.

>> Well the first thing I would do is is stop this ridiculous war that that we started that is costing us $1 billion a day.

Let's not do that.

You know, if we're going to spend that kind of money, we need to invest back in America to build the jobs that we need.

And in education and in health care and the things that we need here.

And then we need to have adults.

We need to have adults in the United States Senate who actually sit down across the aisle and, and look at all the problems that we have and say, hey, how do we get this under control?

Because right now it is not under control.

This president, president Trump said he would get rid of the deficit and the debt way back in in 2016 when he it's doubled.

The national debt has doubled under his reign.

They're not the Republicans are not serious about this.

And here's the other thing we need to do.

You know, a billionaire tax.

Elon Musk guys like Elon Musk, they spend they have a less of a tax rate than than, you know, teachers and firefighters.

That's just just wrong.

Even Mitt Romney is for that.

So I think that these are things that we can do to get our, our debt and our deficit under control without hurting our country.

>> Mr.

Romans, your ideas?

>> Well, the first thing we do is need to start by balanced budgets.

So we stopped going into the whole president Clinton was the last president to have a balanced budget when he left office.

And I think that's possible that we're not spending more than we're bringing in.

Then we need to grow our economy so that the national debt is not not such a big piece of our gross domestic product, and it would look smaller, and then we could start chipping away and paying it off as the economy grows.

We're our largest economy in the world, but China is on our heels and we need to work hard to grow the economy in the country so that the national debt is a smaller percentage of our problem, and we can start paying off.

But nothing can start until we get a balanced budget amendment in place.

>> Mr.

Booker.

>> Well, both of my colleagues have certainly identified the problem, but I'm running to present the solutions because we know that good governance is about taking care of the people.

Doing right by the people of Kentucky is not only smart, but it's good for the economy as well.

And what we are seeing now with our debt and of course, these massive tax breaks for people like Elon Musk that have been put on the backs of working people.

And it's been exacerbated by Trump's war, where we are spending billions and he's asking for trillions.

We know we have to stop that mess, but we also need a vision of how we make sure that our children, my girls, all of our Kentucky children have a future that honors their brilliance.

And that means investing in them.

Medicare for all is actually a smart economic policy.

We're already paying for it.

We just aren't prioritizing the people raising wages so that people have financial freedom to be investors, to sustain and grow their businesses.

That is smart economic policy.

So now we are essentially saying it's Kentuckians, we're done with the BS.

It never trickles down.

Trickle down economics was a sham.

It is time to prioritize the people of Kentucky and that's what I'm doing.

>> Some would say that that $39 trillion debt is because of the growth in the Medicaid budget.

Of course, safety net programs like Snap food stamps, those benefits are crowding out investment and other crucial government programs.

Should states bear more of a burden for those safety net programs?

And I'll start with you, Mr.

Romans.

>> I don't believe so.

I mean, the state tax here under Governor Beshear has been cut to 3%.

We're paying 3% to the state, the federal government, we're paying 35%.

So they're collecting a whole lot more money on the federal level and redistributing it around the country.

I think a lot of these social programs are their responsibilities.

They're taking the majority of our money, and they should be distributing it back in the proper places.

>> Miss McGrath.

>> Yeah, I mean, states, a lot of states like Kentucky don't have the budget to make up the difference there, but I'd like to pull the thread a little bit on Medicare for all, because my colleague keeps talking about it.

You know, if we had Medicare for all right now and government taking over all of our health care, who would be in charge of it?

Robert F Kennedy Jr would be in charge of that right now.

And I don't I don't think that's a good thing.

And this is why we need real reform.

That can is achievable.

And this is why I like things like a true public option, because I think Kentuckians ought to be able to buy health insurance, the same health insurance that a public health insurance that Congress gets.

And then if you like your health insurance, you can keep it.

You like your private plan, you can keep it.

And if you don't, you can buy into what I call an Uncle Sam plan.

These are achievable things that can be done without throwing our entire system into upheaval.

>> We've gotten a viewer question about what kind of health care should Americans have.

Mr.

Romans, what are your ideas?

>> Well, it's a complicated issue, but I've been looking at a plan that I found very interesting.

I don't believe Medicare for everyone would work.

If you call anyone, if anybody knows anybody in Canada, call them and ask them how their health care system is.

It's bogged down.

You can't get to a doctor.

We need a free system where free country.

But I've seen a plan where if you drop Medicare to 50, because 50 and above is where most of the costs come into play for medical benefits.

And also to do that, all you might have to do is double the amount of withholdings that we pay, that we take out as business owners, which isn't near that much.

Then it would make all the the premiums below 50 for people under 50 a whole lot cheaper and they could get by with.

And once you get everybody on a program, everything goes down.

But the first thing you got to do is get all the insurance lobbyists out of the room.

They're the strongest lobby in Washington, DC, and they are that for a reason.

And if you look at the if you watch TV at night, you see an insurance commercial or you see a medication commercial, we need to ban medication commercials because that's driving up the cost.

They know their ROI.

They know if you're going to go in and ask your doctor for a medication, you shouldn't have to do that.

But if you do, he's going to write you that prescription.

Those types of things can lower everything that we do.

>> Mr.

Booker, Medicare for all, as you heard your seatmate say, does not work, is not sustainable.

Respond again.

>> Well, at this stage in our country, the moment that we're facing with so many people are hurting, what we can't do is regurgitate Republican talking points, and we need leaders that will not simply tell the people of Kentucky what's not possible, but will actually fight for the change that they're demanding.

The majority of Kentuckians understand that healthcare is a human right, which is why they support policies just like Medicare for all.

This is no longer rational at this point, folks are asking, why in the world have we not done it yet?

So instead of the phony excuses, I'm telling my own story.

People who have heard me share and be vulnerable about being a type one diabetic.

A lot of people have had to ration their medicine to put food on the table, and what we don't need is a US senator telling them, well, some of you all may have to do that.

And yes, we need to restore the ACA subsidies.

But that's not enough because so many people were already falling through the cracks.

Even with the Affordable Care Act, we need leadership that will meet this moment.

And if we don't stand up, we'll see Donald Trump continue to throw everyone off the cliff with a blank check.

No excuses.

We need real leadership right now.

>> Yes.

>> Go ahead.

I'm not saying it's not a sustainable and I'm not talking as a Republican here.

It causes a poor medical system and it's done it in every country that's been it's been enacted.

We need to keep the federal government out of as much as possible that we can.

>> Miss McGrath.

>> Yeah.

And we we live in a system where Democrats aren't always going to be in charge of the white House.

And what have Republicans done every single time they get in government, they undermine the health care.

Look what they did to the Affordable Care Act.

They undermine it every single time.

And now they're trying to gut it.

Look at what they're doing to the VA right now.

I mean, we finally got in the VA.

I'm I'm a veteran.

My husband's a veteran.

You know, we we go to the VA, we have a mental health crisis among veterans.

We took two decades to get psychiatrists and psychologists into the VA.

And what did the Trump administration do?

What did these Republicans do?

As soon as they got the power, they fired 500 mental health experts and doctors out of the VA.

That's that's not what I want to see for America.

You know, I don't want to see this, you know, Republicans gutting health care in America.

And that's what my concern is, the achievable things that I'm talking about, like a public option would get prices down so that everybody can afford health care because health care is a right, not a privilege.

>> Would that somehow dismantle the private health insurance industry?

>> No, but what it would do is it would get prices under control.

Here's why you right now, my husband and I, because we're military retirees, we have an option of buying Tricare, which is, I call it the Uncle Sam plan.

It is a public plan and we buy that for our family.

I think you should be able to buy that plan.

I think everybody should be able to buy that plan.

And now you have a public plan that is now competing with the private plan.

So the private insurers would now have to bring their prices down to compete with Uncle Sam.

And I think that is the best way to do this.

That's achievable.

That doesn't throw people off their health care and gets everybody the care that they deserve.

>> Any other comments on health care before we move to the war in Iraq, because we're quickly running out of time.

One more point.

>> I would I think it's important to note that we need leaders that don't subscribe to the politics of fear and the idea that we should not have a bold vision because Republicans would stop it is an excuse.

We Phillip Kentucky we flip the Senate and we need to clean House.

Donald Trump did not give excuses when he said he was going to do what he did.

He told us how he was going to run roughshod over our country.

And he's doing it.

We need leaders that have the backbone to say, I'm actually going to fight for the people of Kentucky and not make excuses about how hard it's going to be.

>> So let's talk.

Yes, yes, Mr.

Romans.

>> We also need a senators that know reality and aren't going to say whatever sounds good in a public forum to get votes.

>> So let's now shift to the Iran conflict and the military draft.

So the Iran war is approaching its third month, and we know that the two week ceasefire is the deadline is the 22nd, with talks seemingly at a standstill.

Beyond blaming the president and reciting how he has handled this war so far, what specific ideas do you have for an exit strategy?

Mr.

Romans.

>> If I knew that, I'd be in Washington or in Turkey right now helping them.

The president's got us in a really bad spot, and that's why he should have had to go to Congress if we were in immediate danger.

And he had to strike when he didn't.

It had to be secret.

We can understand that.

Nobody wants Iran to have a nuclear weapon, but the minute those bombs hit the ground, he should have come to Capitol Hill and he should have gone to the American people and explained why he was there, what the objectives were and how we were getting out.

And that way we would have understood there would have been a plan in place.

I don't think people are as upset with going into Iran as they are the handling of going into Iran.

We should have had a plan in place to keep the streets open.

We should have had that plan in place for the last 40 years, because we knew anything could erupt there at any time.

We should have known that was a vulnerability.

So they went in with no plan.

They never addressed to Congress.

They've never talked to the people.

We have no idea what the goal was, what we can consider a win and how we're going to get out.

And now is the time we need to rally our allies, not to help us keep the strait open, but to get us out of Iran with a straight open and be done with it.

>> Colonel McGrath, you've served this is an area where you've spoken a lot about and have a lot of knowledge on.

What would you recommend on an exit strategy out of Iran?

>> Well, first of all, this is exactly why we need a United States senator that has some national security experience and global security experience, which is what I have spent my entire life doing.

There is no military solution to what is happening in Iran right now.

And anybody that has studied this stuff who has done the war games and the tabletop exercises that I have done for over two decades on this knows that.

And that is why the president doing this unilaterally was such a strategic failure.

Right now, we're in a position where we're either going to have to escalate with thousands of more troops and invade a country that is three times the size of Iraq.

Nobody thinks in their right mind, thinks that that's smart.

There needs to be a diplomatic solution.

The problem is that this Republican administration doesn't have a whole lot of good diplomats.

But right now we are in a tough spot because strategically, we we don't have the cards.

Iran has the cards.

It's the big geography card.

Look at what has happened here.

We have not gotten their uranium, their highly enriched uranium.

They still have that.

We took a regime that was radical and made it more radical with the bombings.

We have alienated the people of Iran by by bombing them.

And the Strait of Hormuz is closed.

Now, you can say, well, you know, President Trump has has destroyed their Navy.

They didn't have much of a Navy, Renee, to begin with.

And how Iran fights is asymmetrically.

Okay, so that's how they're able to shut down the Strait of Hormuz.

We need people in the United States Senate who understand this now more than ever to be able to check this president.

That's that's what I bring at this moment to the United States Senate.

>> Mr.

Booker.

>> Well, first of all, I would say I would not authorize this illegal war.

I certainly wouldn't vote to fund it.

And the president needs to be impeached, needs to be removed, and he needs to be arrested.

What is happening is heinous, and it does indeed need to stop.

But what is really important here is that we have to do the work of centering humanity in all of this.

So no, I have not served overseas.

And while I respect and honor those who have served, what I know in listening to them is that they're looking for leaders in the United States Senate to not simply talk about war strategies and tactics, but to talk about their needs, to prioritize their challenges here at home, and to lift up a vision of driving resources into the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

So my platform is what the people of Kentucky are demanding, and that's why we are in a position to not only win this primary, but to win in November as well.

>> Renee.

Also in this thing, it's bigger than just a bombing war.

You know, nobody's going to go toe to toe with the military of the United States.

But there's so much at risk here economically.

And they're winning the economic war.

I mean, anybody knows what the petrodollar is.

It's the fact that we have to trade petroleum based on the US dollar.

We've got Dubai today asking for currency swap because of the problems that caused us.

If we ever lose that, we our economy will collapse overnight.

We need to get out of Iran.

They're winning the economic war.

We can blow up all we want until we get out of there.

We've got problems.

>> As well.

And China is winning here and Russia is winning.

We have have eased the sanctions on Russia.

The other thing is just the other day, there's reports that now the Gulf countries, the UAE, because their economies are tanking, guess what?

They're going to ask for a bailout from the United States.

U.S.

taxpayer dollars are now going to go bail out these Gulf states, just like this president bailed out Argentina.

They're going to they're going to ask for money, and that's us.

It's just ridiculously dumb for this president to do this and terrible for Republicans in Congress to let him do it.

You've got to have a diplomatic solution, and we've got to get it done.

Right now.

>> Starting in December of this year, eligible men will be automatically registered for the military draft within 30 days of their 18th birthday.

Most men, 18 to 25, are already.

They have to register with the Selective Service, but automatic registration was mandated as part of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act.

Do you support a system, Miss McGrath, where the government can register a citizen for potential combat without their explicit consent?

>> Well, right now, men under our current laws are supposed to register for the draft at the age of 18.

I don't see why we shouldn't continue that.

That's fine.

I actually think women should should be involved.

I mean, I'm somebody who served the country.

I do believe, though, that if big government can can do this, why can't we register people to vote?

Why can't we, you know, just automatically when you're 18, you're registered to vote.

To me, that's where I think we should be focused on, you know, and again, I would like to go a little bit back to the draft, though, because as we're talking about a draft right now, because we're in this crazy war, we don't need a draft.

We have an all volunteer force.

We've had it since the Vietnam era.

We have the greatest military in the world, which I serve for 24 years, and my husband served for 24 years.

If we're talking about a draft right now, we are not doing the right things.

And that is another reason why we need to flip the Senate and the House.

>> Mr.

Booker, your thoughts on this automatic registration for the military draft and should women be a part of it?

>> Well, Donald Trump wants to be a King, which is why we've been organizing all across Kentucky and across the country saying there are no Kings in the United States of America.

And this is a page right out of the authoritarian playbook to essentially mandate registration to go to War, while at the same time making it harder to register to vote, is letting us all we need to know about how Donald Trump and his big money politicians see democracy.

And I, again, I honor those who have served.

I have had family serving nearly every branch, and the sacrifices they've made are tremendous, and they deserve a government that will account for their humanity while they're here at home, but they also need leadership that will end endless war.

Donald Trump ran on ending forever wars.

That's why so many Kentuckians took a chance on him.

And by me saying, I want to end the military industrial complex, we need leaders who will actually stand up and speak that truth and who are not built by the military industrial complex.

So I know what this moment requires, and we definitely need to end in this war.

>> Mr.

Romans.

>> It's a sad state of affairs when we have to start talking about the draft in the United States.

One of the great things about our military has been all voluntary.

You know, governments go to war and people suffer.

And when are we going to get to the point where we don't, even if we're going to war, don't have boots on the ground?

Now, I do not believe that it should be automatic.

>> Any other comment on that before we move on?

I do want to go back to their Warren, War and farmers, because we know that they are feeling the strain of these war related costs driven by this hindrance to the Strait of Hormuz, a critical trade route for nearly one third of the global seaborne fertilizer.

At least 70% of U.S.

farmers cannot afford the fertilizer that they need.

Would you vote to attach billions in direct farm aid to the upcoming military bill to help farmers who are in dire straits right now?

Mr.

Romans.

>> If the farmers need it, we need to give it to them.

Farmers, teachers, doctors, most important professions we have in this country.

And if they need the money, absolutely, yes, I would attach it to where they got the subsidies to survive and to buy the fertilizer that they need to feed our nation.

>> Mr.

Booker.

>> Well, we absolutely need to provide aid to our farmers who are hurting from these horrific policies that have up costs in a way that are crushing folks who are already hurting.

But what we also know is that is not sustainable, which is why we need a vision for how we make life more affordable for our small family farmers, for everyone across Kentucky.

So while we provide this immediate aid, we also have to do the deeper work.

And again, I believe we have to end endless war, which means we cannot continue to support a ballooning budget for defense.

And by lifting up policies that make life more affordable.

Again, I say Medicare for all.

My colleagues can be afraid of it, but I know that health care is one of the big barriers that hurts a lot of small family farmers who are trying to keep food on their own tables, so I'm here fighting for them.

>> Miss McGrath, would you approve of a farmer bailout in that instance?

And also this question from a viewer, can you explain your vision of America's position in the world?

>> Well, let me get to farmers real quick.

So we've already bailed out Argentina, right?

We're talking about bailing out these these Gulf countries.

Of course.

Of course, we have to to, you know, take care of our farmers.

But how did we get here?

How did we get here?

We, the farmers were already hit with these crazy tariffs that that take out half of our soybean, you know, market and jack up the prices on everybody.

And now we're at war where the farmers are crushed with this fertilizer.

They're already struggling.

We're losing one family farm a day in Kentucky.

And you know what I hear from farmers?

They don't want government handouts.

They want their market back.

And so if you're really pro-farmer, you need to be against these tariffs.

You need to be saying that what these guys in Washington are doing is absolutely crazy and it is not sustainable long term.

But to your question on America's vision in the world, I'm somebody that believes that America is exceptional, that the the last 80 years of relative great power peace has been undergirded by strong American power, coupled with the values.

Now, we are not always perfect.

We are not perfect, but we have values that we stand for that right now are being trampled by Donald Trump.

The values of, hey, let's talk to our allies and partners before we use military force, the value of, hey, let's make sure that we have diplomacy and use military force as a last resort.

All of that is being thrown under the bus by Donald Trump, who is, you know, rolling out the red carpet for guys like Vladimir Putin.

That is not us.

That is not what America stands for.

And we need a senator in the in the United States of America, here in Kentucky that will stand up for American values and will stand up for American power in the world.

Because it matters.

>> Mister Romans.

>> I forgot the question.

>> Well, the one question that came from the viewers, can you explain your vision of America's position in the world?

>> I think we're the leader of the free world, and I think with that comes a lot of responsibility.

And we need to stay the leader of the free world.

But in doing so, we need to make sure that we defend our allies.

We should have been defending Ukraine against Vladimir Putin.

It's it's a lot of responsibility to be the leader of anything.

And we we take that responsibility.

And over the years, we've done a good job.

We're starting to sputter right now, but we need to get back to leading the free world.

>> So let's end and maybe we'll have an opportunity for you all to make some closing comments on Democratic leadership in Washington.

If the election turns out where Democrats are able to take control of the Senate and you are elected to the United States Senate, would you vote for Chuck Schumer to be the leader?

>> Chuck Schumer needs to step aside.

It's it's his time to go.

And people already know.

I'm not afraid to say that.

In 2020, I ran against Chuck Schumer's big money candidate, who we have a bit of a rematch now.

And so we need new leadership.

And I didn't get to answer the question on America's place in the world, but I just want to acknowledge that America has represented a beacon of hope, of opportunity, of a pursuit of democracy.

And it is under attack in a vicious way right now.

And we need both leadership to protect our pursuit, to protect the ideals of humanity.

And that's why I'm taking this stand.

>> Mr.

Romans, who do you think should be the Democratic leader in the Senate?

>> I would never say that right now until you saw who the candidates were.

We'll see who's up for office and vote accordingly.

You know, but I would like to say I'm not afraid of anything as was insinuated a while ago, but I am realistic.

>> And Carroll McGrath.

I'll let you answer that question.

>> No, let me just start out by saying, you know, the Senate Majority leader was for the Democratic nominee in 2020, the same as he was for the Democratic nominee in 2022.

And if he wasn't, you got to ask why I think that Chuck Schumer, you know, in Democratic leadership, we do need change.

And I have said this publicly, and this gets back to to this seat, we have a really great opportunity here in Kentucky with this open seat, to have it be filled with somebody who's going to be a voice for Kentuckians.

You know, this is why the Louisville Courier Journal and papers around the state have said that I am the candidate that is best positioned to actually win in November.

We need a candidate that can speak to and listen to and hear not only Democrats, but also independents and moderates.

That's how we win in a state like Kentucky.

>> Mr.

Booker, I'll give you some time to respond.

>> Thank you.

Well, it's pretty understandable why Chuck Schumer may have supported Amy McGrath and perhaps didn't support me in 2022.

He's been disconnected from the challenges people face, which is why so many people are asking for him to step aside.

And in an opinion piece in The Courier Journal is not the Courier Journal endorsing the people of Kentucky are standing with me.

Organized labor is standing with me.

Congressman John Yarmuth endorsed my campaign.

The Working Families Party has endorsed my campaign.

I've made it very clear that I'm here for the people.

This is a testament to community.

And because of the work we've done over the years, from the hood to the holler, we are going to win this race for the people of Kentucky.

>> Well, thank you candidates for being here this evening.

We certainly appreciate your time, and we appreciate you tuning in with us tonight, and we hope you'll join us next week as we talk with several candidates for the U.S.

House in the sixth district.

Thanks so much for being with us.

I'm Renee Shaw, and I'll see you tomorrow night on Kentucky edition at 630 eastern, 530 central right here on KET.

Until then, have a great night.

[MUSIC]