Rand Paul links governor’s race to Anthony Fauci, COVID in campaign stop for Daniel Cameron

Taking aim at one of his favorite targets Friday, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul pitched Daniel Cameron as an attorney general who stood up to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Cameron, the Republican candidate in the upcoming Kentucky gubernatorial election against incumbent Andy Beshear, spoke alongside Paul during a campaign stop at Louisville's J-Town Beach bar and events venue. The senator argued Beshear's approach in early 2020 would not have been implemented had Cameron been in office.

"Every bit of what the governors did, every bit of what DWP — drunk with power — Beshear did, came at the behest and the suggestion of Anthony Fauci," Paul told the crowd. "But at every step of the way, we resisted them."

Kentucky voters select the state's next chief executive Nov. 7.

Beshear, whose first year in office came at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, is leading by several points in most major polls, according to an aggregation from political analysis site FiveThirtyEight, though Cameron touted a recent poll from the pro-Republican Bluegrass Freedom Action PAC that had him trailing by just two points.

Beshear's response to the pandemic has won him support from some voters who were encouraged by his daily press conferences and unifying message as life was upended by school and business closures, University of Louisville political science professor Dewey Clayton said recently, as he "seemed to play a nonpartisan role during COVID" and had a "governor of all the people" attitude.

Beshear has said his response to the pandemic saved lives and restrictions were in place before vaccines became widely available.

But Paul — who has repeatedly called for Fauci to face criminal charges over previous comments about the origins of the virus — argued Beshear overstepped in his actions. He said Cameron, who as attorney general sued the Beshear administration over COVID policies several times with mixed results, was a leader among "brave moms, Moms of Liberty, store owners (and) restaurant owners" who "fought back."

Cameron joked about Paul's comments as he spoke Friday.

"I'm looking around at all these smiling faces and I think to myself 'Who wouldn't want to be here right now?' Well, I guess Anthony Fauci wouldn't want to be here right now," he said, his lone reference to the doctor before launching into a speech that criticized Beshear and listed campaign priorities, such as eliminating the state income tax and pushing back against crime in Kentucky.

The Louisville event was the third of four Cameron campaign rallies Friday with Paul. Other stops were planned in Bowling Green (where the senator lives), Crescent Springs and Lexington.

Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Rand Paul campaigns for Daniel Cameron in Kentucky governor's race