A new ad in Kentucky’s Republican primary for the state’s open Senate seat labels Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) “Mitch McConnell’s understudy,” as well as “Amnesty Andy,” alluding to the congressman’s past support for amnesty for illegal aliens.
The ad, run by the Club for Growth-affiliated Win It Back PAC, is making the rounds on Kentucky TV, declaring, “Andy Barr was Mitch McConnell’s understudy” and calling out his prior suggestions that Congress pass amnesty for illegal aliens like those on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
“My mentor, Leader Mitch McConnell,” Barr can be heard saying in the ad.
“Barr followed in his [McConnell’s] footsteps, voting to grant amnesty to nearly two million illegal aliens,” the ad states, followed by a clip of Barr stating, “We did provide, in the bill that I voted for, a legalization of that group, that provided protection from deportation,” referring to a DACA amnesty that he backed in 2018.
Barr has also been a defender of foreign worker visa programs, even going as far as to call opponents of such programs “nativists.”
“Our agriculture sector, our hospitality sector in Kentucky, they certainly need legal workers … the great thing about the president’s policies that will secure the border and keep our community safe is that it will give us the opportunity to streamline our overly bureaucratic legal guest worker programs so that our industries have the labor that they need,” Barr said in an interview during President Donald Trump’s first term:
Some of these nativists are directly at odds with the agricultural sector in Kentucky and we are a nation of immigrants, but we’re also a nation of laws. And I’m proud to join President Trump in both of those efforts to secure the border, number one, and support President Trump’s effort to help agriculture and the hospitality industry. [Emphasis added]
In July, Breitbart News revealed Barr’s financial ties to several pro-amnesty Republicans, mainly Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL), who is the lead sponsor of the Dignity Act, a far-reaching amnesty for illegal aliens.
Building America’s Republican Representation PAC, Barr’s leadership PAC, has donated $10,500 to Salazar’s congressional campaign since 2020.
Barr’s record on immigration stands in stark contrast to the stance of one of his leading GOP primary opponents in the race, businessman Nate Morris, who has said he supports a full halt on immigration to the United States until all illegal aliens are deported.
“I’m sick of watching the elites give handouts to illegals while working-class families struggle. I’ll lead the fight against amnesty by stopping all immigration until we deport every single illegal immigrant in America,” Morris says in an ad.
The Republican primary in the Kentucky Senate race is slated for May 19, 2026.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter here.
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