Kentucky Republican dumps campaign manager after anti-Trump social media posts emerge

The campaign manager for Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) has been let go after right-wing news outlets surfaced his old social media posts going after President Donald Trump, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported on Wednesday.

Barr is currently running in a crowded GOP Senate primary to succeed the longtime departing Sen. Mitch McConnell, who served as the GOP's Senate Leader for over a decade and became an institution in both U.S. and Kentucky politics.

"Former campaign manager Blake Gober left Barr’s campaign last week, Barr spokesperson Alex Bellizzi confirmed to the Herald-Leader in a statement," said the report. "The move came less than three months after he came on as Barr’s campaign manager. Gober replaced the late Tatum Dale, who died unexpectedly at age 35 in December."

Gober was found by Breitbart to have posted on X, “I am proud that I have never voted for Donald Trump,” immediately following the January 6 attack. During the 2024 election, he posted, “Donald Trump is not fit to be President of the United States again. Any of the people on the stage tonight are much better suited to be President than either Trump or Biden.”

Asked for comment, the campaign said, “We parted ways with Blake last week. The latest Emerson College/Fox56 poll from Thursday shows that Andy Barr is leading this race and is the strongest America First candidate running for Senate. We are laser focused on winning.”

Trump's tumultuous history, during which the GOP was heavily divided before he consolidated support, means a number of Republicans who today position themselves as loyal MAGA footsoldiers often have to confront a much more Trump-skeptical or downright Trump-hostile past.

Most famously, Vice President J.D. Vance once derided Trump as a con man who could become "America's Hitler," before he entered elected Republican politics.