MAGA Senate Hopeful Scrubs Trump’s Image From Website

Republican Andy Barr removed an image of President Donald Trump at the top of his webpage as he sets his sights on filling Mitch McConnell’s Senate seat in November.

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The Kentucky GOP Senate hopeful is the latest, and perhaps the most well-known, GOP candidate to date to make changes to his campaign website to put some distance between himself and the increasingly unpopular president ahead of the midterms, even though he’s running in what is considered a red state.

The campaign has since replaced the image of Barr with Trump at the top of his Senate website with one featuring Barr’s family. The headline reads “Kentucky Tough, Kentucky First, Always.”

The shift comes after Barr ran in a tough Republican primary, in which all three GOP candidates tried to position themselves as most aligned with the president and distance themselves from McConnell, who is retiring, to win over the MAGA base.

Trump even helped Barr across the finish line in May with an endorsement just weeks before the Kentucky Republican primary.

While it’s not uncommon for campaigns to make some changes to court more moderate voters after the primary season ends, the move to scrub Trump’s image is a dramatic step for a candidate who spent so much time touting his MAGA credentials.

The Republican House member and Senate candidate not only removed Trump’s image from his homepage but also updated the “Meet Andy” section of his website and deleted mentions of the president.

“Now more than ever, Andy believes it is critical for Kentuckians to have a strong and proven leader representing them — a Senator who will fight for limited government and stand with President Trump,” his website previously read in July, according to the Daily Beast’s review of his old website.

“Andy was the first member of the Kentucky delegation to endorse President Trump in 2024, and he served as the Chairman of Trump’s primary campaign in the Commonwealth. Andy has consistently fought to advance the America First agenda in the House and will be the President’s biggest advocate in the Senate,” it continued.

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However, all the copy mentioning Trump on the “Meet Andy” section had been deleted by August.

While Barr removed the prominent image of him with Trump at the top of the page, the website still briefly notes lower down on the page that Barr was the first member of the Kentucky delegation to endorse Trump and was the Kentucky chair of his 2024 campaign.

In response to the Daily Beast’s questions about the website changes, Barr’s campaign provided a statement.

“Kentuckians know that Andy Barr is proud to have President Trump’s endorsement. He’s laser focused on defending Kentucky common sense versus crazy Socialism,” said Alex Bellizzi, communications director for the campaign. “Andy Barr can’t wait to keep fighting for Kentucky alongside President Trump as our next U.S. Senator.”

Barr is not the only Kentucky Republican to edit his website to downplay Trump ties. The GOP candidate looking to replace Barr in Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District, Ralph Alvarado, also recently removed a prominent image of Trump and mentions of his long MAGA history dating back to the 2016 campaign.

California Republican Rep. James Gallagher quietly removed mention of Trump’s endorsement from his website ahead of the November midterms. Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie also removed some MAGA talking points from his website in July as candidates make their final sprint to the finish line this fall.

The Cook Political Report rates the Kentucky Senate race “Solid Republican.” A Democrat has not won a Senate race to represent the state since 1992, but Kentucky voters reelected Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in 2023.

The Kentucky race has also gained greater attention following McConnell’s June 14 hospitalization. The 84-year-old senator has not been seen publicly since.

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