Daniel Cameron pulls out of event after Massie calls out host over racist comments

After pressure from Northern Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie, R-KY, Daniel Cameron’s campaign is pulling out of a conservative event hosted by a controversial speaker.

Racist remarks, legal troubles and unfounded personal attacks by event host Eric Deters were among the many reasons that Massie pushed Attorney General and GOP gubernatorial nominee Daniel Cameron to cancel his plans to attend Deters’ conservative rally Freedom Fest in September. Cameron’s appearance would have be harmful to both his campaign and the Republican Party of Kentucky, Massie argued on Friday.

Cameron’s campaign, contacted about Deters’ racist comments and Massie’s criticisms on Friday, told the Herald-Leader that they had other plans for the Sep. 9 rally.

“As it turns out, we’re going to be doing other campaign events that day in another region of the state. We plan to campaign in northern Kentucky often between now and November 7,” the Cameron campaign said in a statement.

Deters, who finished fourth in the GOP gubernatorial primary and says he wants to primary the six-term congressman in 2024, said that Massie’s pressure is motivated by fear. He also argued that Cameron speaking at the event would have made sense given that he’s touted the endorsement of former president Donald Trump. Deters says Trump has the event “on his schedule.”

Massie had already offered sharps criticisms of Deters, but his criticisms grew even stronger in light of racist comments that Deters has made.

In videos across social media channels, where Deters has regularly posted for years, the former attorney and aspiring politician has used the N-word, used a homophobic slur, and claimed that “blacks want to control everything,” among other racist and offensive comments.

“This plays into a trope about Republicans and I’m disgusted and discouraged that Republicans in Kentucky are going to show up to this event,” Massie told the Herald-Leader in a recent interview.

Massie said that Cameron made a grave political mistake in first planning to attend the event and personally advised him not to go. The congressman’s Fourth Congressional District covers the entirety of Northern Kentucky, a key battleground in Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s 2019 close win over former Republican governor Matt Bevin.

Though his campaign has changed tune, Cameron told the Herald-Leader in June that he “can’t wait to go to” to Deters’ Freedom Fest event.

Massie told the Herald-Leader he based his recommendation on Deters’ well-documented legal troubles – he recently pleaded guilty to menacing his nephew and has run afoul of the law and the Kentucky Supreme Court multiple times – as well as previously unreported racist remarks.

“I want Daniel Cameron to beat Andy Beshear this Fall, and I think he’s putting that all in jeopardy by showing up at this event. The national media is going to have a field day with this,” Massie said.

Deters’ Freedom Fest, held at his Northern Kentucky farm in September and attracting thousands from across the region, has previously been focused on former president Trump and the false claim that Trump won the 2020 election. Deters claims that Trump has the event “on his schedule” this year. Two of Trump’s adult sons are slated to attend, as they did in 2022.

Deters told the Herald-Leader that he thinks Massie is being so hard on Cameron because the congressman is scared of a primary challenge in a presidential election year where he has endorsed Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president over Trump.

“In 2024, it’ll be a Trump-Deters next to a DeSantis-Massie ticket. That has Massie worried,” Deters said.

Trump endorsed Cameron early in the attorney general’s GOP gubernatorial primary race, which he won handily.

Cameron is the first Black nominee for governor of either major political party in Kentucky history. If elected governor, Cameron would become the first elected Black GOP governor and just the fourth Black person to be elected governor in U.S. history.

When asked about the offensive content of Deters’ videos, including one where Deters baselessly accuses the congressman of being a pedophile, Massie said “I think his videos speak for themselves.”

“I would never repeat the words he’s said, but I would refer you to his videos where he rants for hours about race, ethnicity and minorities. Anyone who steps on the stage with him, at an event on his farm hosted by him, and campaigns with him owns all that stuff,” Massie stated.

Deters has gotten in hot water over past racist comments when he joked that “if you want to conquer an African nation, send white women and pot.” He apologized for those comments in 2011, but he offered no apology on Friday when presented with more racist footage recently compiled from Deters’ social media posts by an anonymous user.

“I stand by all of it,” Deters texted. “Truth.”

What did Deters say?

In a 2020 video titled “The Bulldog Thinks Politically Incorrect Humor Is The Cure For The Race Issue,” Deters says that while he doesn’t believe white people should use the N-word, “it’s a bunch of crap” that Black people are generally allowed use it. Deters then goes on to use the N-word twice in the video.

“Like for example if I was right here and I said ‘man, he should’ve never used the word n*****,’” Deters said, later mimicking what he characterized as an overreaction. “Woah, oh my God. You said the N-word explaining that they shouldn’t have used the N-word. You’ve gotta go.”

He later adds: “We’re not allowed to say ‘using the word n***** is wrong.’ See how F-ed up that is?”

In another video from 2020, he complains about the prevalence of minorities, including interracial couples, in commercials and says the leaders of the country and of the Black Lives Matter movement want Black people “to be in control, and God help you if you’re white.”

“Do this test for me,” Deters implored viewers. “Try to watch television and see how many commercials have gay in them, black in them, interracial in them – you name it.”

Cameron is married to a white woman with whom he shares a young son.

In one video, Deters claims that “90% of blacks (have) hatred towards us.”

In the same clip, Deters called for a “great white whiplash” among white voters to elect Trump.

“I am calling for a great white whiplash to re-elect Donald Trump, and you know why? Because they want to destroy us for the color of our skin,” Deters said.

‘Scrutiny they haven’t had before’

Massie insisted that information about Deters’ past would have come back to haunt Cameron. With few other competitive elections in 2023, much attention is expected to center around Cameron’s challenge to Beshear.

“I think this is a political miscalculation by Cameron and his team. What they don’t realize is that when and if Trump shows up, there will be national attention. There will be scrutiny they haven’t had before because it’s not just an off-year governor election, it’s also presidential primary season,” Massie said.

Massie argued that not only would the attention hurt Cameron, but it would also hurt the Republican Party of Kentucky (RPK). Massie added that he wants RPK to comment on the matter.

The party offered no official comment when asked through an RPK spokesperson.

Deters, for his part, claims that Massie is the one doing damage to the party out of selfishness – calling it “stupid” for a congressman to tell a candidate for governor to ditch an event where the former president is allegedly scheduled to appear – and that the congressman turned up the heat on Cameron because he’s scared of Deters’ anticipated political challenge and wants to undermine his event.

While Deters placed fourth in the statewide gubernatorial primary with 6% of the vote, he performed relatively well in key Northern Kentucky counties placing third with about 17% of the Republican electorate’s support.

“Thomas Massie and his nasties – all his little minions – are being the most selfish people in the Republican Party of Kentucky,” Deters said in an interview. “Thomas Massie is actually asking Daniel Cameron, the Republican nominee for governor, not to come to an event, which is the largest pro-Trump political gathering in the state, where (Trump) is scheduled to appear… How messed up is that?”

“All these people who are coming to this event, they know everything about me. I mean, I’m an open book. Everybody knows I’m a fighter. And guess what? The former president of the United States is under two indictments and I’m still hosting him because I don’t care. Trump people love me,” Deters said.

Massie claimed that Deters’ continued personal attacks on him, which have continued this month, have no bearing on his criticism of Deters and politicians who attend his event.

“(The attacks) just show how unhinged he is,” Massie said. “But it should be a wake-up call to anyone going to this event that not only do you own what he’s said for the last decade, but he’s going to create material every day between now and then that will be used against candidates who show up with him.”

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story stated that Daniel Cameron had not changed his plans to attend Freedom Fest. That was incorrect. Cameron’s team, in response to a question posed on Friday, told the Herald-Leader on Sunday afternoon via email statement that the campaign had canceled plans to attend the event. This story and headline have been updated to reflect that decision.