Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) said that Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-WY) staggering GOP primary defeat out in the state of Wyoming just highlights the fact that congressional seats are not owned by the politicians themselves but by the American people as a whole.
While speaking in an appearance on the Sunday edition of “Meet the Press,” Barr claimed that the blowout loss from Cheney to her Trump-endorsed challenger, Harriet Hageman, just last week was prime evidence of the huge gap between the priorities of seasoned lawmakers and all of the people they are expected to actually represent.
Barr claimed that his constituents, and in a more broad sense Americans as a whole, do not share the fixation from Cheney with the 2020 election or the January 6ht committee but are far more concerned instead the more popular kitchen table issues, such as the securing of the southern border and the average cost of living.
“It goes to show, these Congressional seats do not belong to politicians in Washington,” Barr explained to show host Chuck Toss. “These seats belong to the American people. And there is a massive, massive disconnect between the priorities of politicians in Washington and the concerns of the American people.”
“I have been back in my district — in Urban, Kentucky, Mount Sterling, Kentucky, in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, Richmond, Kentucky– over the past several weeks, and not once, not once, have any of my constituents, Republican or Democrat, talked about the 2020 election, January 6th, the committee in Washington or any of these issues,” he went on.
“They’re talking about not being able to afford putting food on the table, putting gas in their trucks, and not being able to see their grandson again because he died of a fentanyl overdose because we don’t have control over our southern border. That’s what the American people care about. And politicians who obsess about the past are not in touch with the American people.”
Barr continued on to issue a prediction that “the Democrats are gonna lose” the November midterm elections “big time,” going on to state that Republicans are “laser-focused” on far more pressing issues that “the American people actually care about.”
“That is the rising price of gas, the rising price of groceries, the fact that we can’t find baby formula on the shelves,” he went on. “The Democrats are advocating a dangerous policy of not only defunding the police but eliminating cash bail, eliminating qualified immunity for law enforcement. Homicides are up 15% in this country. Americans want security and safety. Democrats are not delivering that. We have a positive agenda to put the country back on the right track.”
EXCLUSIVE: There's a disconnect between D.C. priorities & Americans' concerns, says @RepAndyBarr (R-Ky.), who's in a swing district.
"Not once have any of my constituents … talked about the 2020 election. … Politicians who obsess about the past are not in touch." pic.twitter.com/akN0M1Vu5A
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) August 21, 2022