Kentucky Senate hopeful Daniel Cameron praises Trump, criticizes his mentor, Mitch McConnell

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Republican Senate candidate Daniel Cameron lavished praise Monday on Donald Trump and criticized his mentor Sen. Mitch McConnell, reflecting the president's dominance within the GOP and setting an early tone for what looks to be a competitive primary for a Kentucky Senate seat in 2026.

In a campaign video, Cameron said McConnell was “flat out wrong” for opposing a trio of presidential nominations, chastising the seven-term senator who helped launch Cameron's career in politics.

Seeming to part ways with McConnell on a key national security issue, Cameron declared “enough is enough” when it comes to U.S. funding for Ukraine in its war with Russia. McConnell has championed support for Ukraine and lumped Russia among adversaries he calls an “axis of aggressors” posing a fundamental threat to America and its allies.

Cameron's remarks came on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion and at a time when U.S. policies on Russia and Ukraine are shifting dramatically under Trump. They signaled a remarkable shift in power away from Kentucky's senior senator, who announced last week that he won't seek reelection after his long tenure as a power broker leading his party in the U.S. Senate.

“I’m going to be the type of senator that stands up for your constitutional rights and is going to support President Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda,” Cameron, a former aide to McConnell and later the state attorney general, said in the video.

Cameron’s campaign cast the video as an official campaign launch, though he confirmed last week that he was in the race shortly after McConnell revealed his plans to retire next year.

Cameron's willingness to break with McConnell reflected the senator's diminished status even in Kentucky, the state he has represented since the mid-1980s and where he helped orchestrate the GOP's rise to power. It also signaled the value of a Trump endorsement, seen as potentially decisive in determining who wins the GOP primary next year.

“They’re all kissing Trump’s behind and doing their best to look like they’re the most Trump person, which is really discouraging when we’re talking about a constitutionally independent office,” former Kentucky state Sen. Whitney Westerfield, a Republican and Trump critic, said by phone Monday.

As for McConnell’s influence in Cameron’s career, Westerfield said: “I don’t think his political career would be where it is without McConnell.”

Westerfield said he saw that influence firsthand. After narrowly losing his campaign for Kentucky attorney general in 2015, he was prepared to run again in 2019 until being warned the McConnell camp was ready to run a blistering primary campaign against him, he said. Westerfield pulled out and said Monday he thought the pressure was meant to benefit Cameron.

Elsewhere in Kentucky's Republican ranks, U.S. Rep. Andy Barr has signaled he would announce his plans soon and said he’s been encouraged by support he's already received as he considers a Senate run. Businessman Nate Morris has signaled his strong interest in the Senate race, too.

The state's two Democrats holding statewide office— Gov. Andy Beshear and Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman — have both said they will not enter the race. A top legislative Democrat, state House Minority Floor Leader Pamela Stevenson, recently filed to raise money for the Senate race.

Cameron’s ties to McConnell reach back to Cameron’s college days, when he was part of the McConnell Scholars Program at the University of Louisville. Cameron later worked as McConnell’s general counsel.

On the night Cameron was elected as Kentucky's first Black attorney general in 2019, Cameron said that McConnell had “changed the trajectory of my life” by urging him to run for attorney general.

“I’m proud to call him a friend, I’m proud to call him a mentor,” Cameron said.

Scott Jennings, a Republican political strategist close to both McConnell and Cameron, downplayed the criticism Cameron leveled at his mentor. Jennings said it's become standard for Republican candidates to align themselves with Trump in GOP primaries. Cameron ran for governor in 2023 and hitched his campaign to Trump's coattails but lost to Beshear.

“Good candidates can have it both ways," Jennings said Monday. “They can be respectful to those who have boosted their careers and at the same time clearly state their positions.”

When McConnell revealed his retirement plans, Barr said the senator had “reshaped the federal judiciary” and thanked McConnell for his service.

Barr has said he will fight for Trump's agenda. A Barr spokesman said last week that Cameron “embarrassed” Trump and the GOP by losing the governor’s race. Barr's spokesman also said the party needs “proven winners,” perhaps foreshadowing Barr’s pitch for a Trump endorsement.

Cameron responded by saying, “You get outside of his district, nobody knows who Andy Barr is.”

Meanwhile, Morris has cast himself as a political outsider. While Cameron and Barr jockeyed behind the scenes while awaiting McConnell’s decision on the 2026 race, Morris bluntly said it was time for McConnell to retire. He ripped into the senator for opposing three Trump nominations and accused his potential GOP rivals of lacking the backbone to speak out about the McConnell votes.