: Former Republican governor SAVAGES Trump's Kansas rally as a “FREAK SHOW” – and accuses Trump's favorite senator of abandoning his duty to the American people!
Former Kansas Republican Governor Bill Graves just delivered a brutal assessment of Donald Trump's campaign rally in Wichita, comparing the president's political performances to a carnival attraction and questioning whether anyone actually takes them seriously.
“Going to a Trump rally is kind of like going to the freak show at the carnival,” Graves told CNN's Erin Burnett. “What's he going to say? What's he going to do? It's always very entertaining.”
Ouch!
And Graves has some serious bona fides when it comes to the deep-red Sunflower State. He was governor for eight years and served another eight as secretary of state, making him an Republican elder statesman there.
Trump had descended on Kansas to rescue Republican Senator Roger Marshall, who is fighting an unexpectedly close reelection battle against Democrat Adam Hamilton, a Methodist pastor.
Kansas hasn't elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1932. Trump carried the state by 16 points just two years ago. Yet here he was, campaigning for a Republican incumbent in a race that wasn't supposed to be competitive.
Graves wasn't impressed. He questioned whether Trump's traveling circus would actually help Marshall win votes, then turned his fire on the senator himself.
“The president thinks [Marshall] is a nice guy because he says yes every time the president [asks] him to do something,” Graves said.
“The president loves Roger Marshall because he's abdicated any responsibility to be a check on President Trump.”
Graves, who has endorsed Hamilton, said Trump's emergency appearance revealed “what [an] incredibly poor job Roger Marshall has done as an incumbent United States senator.”
And Marshall has plenty of baggage. A NYT investigation revealed that he and his medical practice sued more than 700 patients over unpaid bills, some as small as $101, often charging 18 percent interest. Some were new mothers, and 81 patients were arrested after missing court dates.
Meanwhile, Hamilton has been campaigning against Trump's tariffs and the rising costs squeezing Kansas families and farmers, and despite the state’s history, has a genuine opportunity to unseat Marshall here.
“We have the right candidate. He has the right message,” the former governor said.
For a Republican who spent 16 years helping lead Kansas, the choice has become clear enough that he's publicly supporting a Democrat.
And as for Trump's rallies? Graves has apparently seen enough of the carnival to know that the freak show isn't going to deliver the seat back to Roger Marshall
