An estimated 170 sign-waving protestors gathered in front of Central Bank Center in Lexington Wednesday to voice their displeasure with Congressman Andy Barr.
Barr was in Lexington to speak at a Commerce Lexington Luncheon. Demonstrators accused President Trump and Elon Musk of slashing the Federal government to pay for billionaire tax cuts and favoring Russia over Ukraine.
Protestor Evelyn Knight of Lexington said, "I am here because I feel things are going awry in our country and in our democracy, we have elected representatives who are to support us, protect us, do the right thing. And I think right now, we've got a bunch of lemmings in Congress and they're running us off the edge."
Chris Stanton is an ex-marine carrying a sign that cites Bible verses. "I'm here because I'm seeing our freedoms threatened on a daily basis from multiple avenues. and me being a disabled veteran, I would really like to see the things I signed up for in the Marine Corps to be actually honored, which is the Constitution."
Inside Central Bank Center, Barr praised President Trump and Elon Musk’s efforts to slash the federal workforce. Afterward, Barr took several questions from the media, including one about the impact of the planned nationwide firing of more than 15 percent of workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“We have given the Veterans Administration a lot of additional responsibilities by statute over the last several years, especially the PACT Act, and so as we conduct our oversight – and we will conduct oversight to make sure none of these efficiency measures cut into the delivery of care.”
Barr noted one of the first VA facilities Secretary Doug Collins visited was Lexington’s. The VA has refused to say how many of the first round of firings were at the Lexington VA. He defended the Trump Administration’s tariffs, retaliation against which people in the bourbon industry and farming communities have said threaten their livelihoods.
“Even our allies and partners, not just our adversaries like the People’s Republic of China, but allies and partners like India and Canada and the EU and Mexico have unfair trade practices that actually preclude market access for American exporters.”
Barr said Trump’s threats of new tariffs against India led that nation to cut its 150-percent tariff on Kentucky bourbon to 100 percent.
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