🚩Breaking: Ed Gallrein (Thomas Massie’s opponent) scampers away after refusing to answer questions about his stance on Right to Life issues. 🚩
Ed showed up at a CareNet event in Northern Kentucky (a pro-life event) and then floundered, refusing to answer basic questions. Gallrein was asked why he didn’t fill out a survey for Kentucky Right to Life. (He has also refused to fill out surveys for groups like the Family Foundation, Commonwealth Policy Center, and National Association of Gun Rights.) His responses ranged from “I thought I filled it out — I’ll get on it,” to “Well, I filled one out when I ran for state senate two years ago,” to “Well, you didn’t endorse me before.” He never once answered where he stands on specific issues such as exemptions or national abortion laws.
At one point he claimed he is “100% pro-life,” but the obvious follow-up question is: What does that actually mean? Where does he stand on the specific issues? His refusal to specify his views should be concerning to everyone. Once Ed realized he was being filmed, he quickly left and refused to answer any more questions.
Why does this matter in the race? KY-4 is 18% Catholic, compared to the rest of Kentucky, which averages around 8% Catholic. If Ed didn’t want to be asked about his positions on pro-life issues, why did he show up at a pro-life event? Why won’t he respond to surveys?
For contrast, Thomas Massie did respond to the questionnaire and received a 100% pro-life rating based on his answers.
I have tried to be as objective as possible on the federal races in Kentucky as I report on them. Up until a few weeks ago, I had hardly posted about the KY-4 race — even though I live in the district and am a 4/4 Republican primary voter. I hadn’t posted about it because, honestly, I knew nothing about Ed Gallrein and wanted to be fully informed before reporting on the race.
After trying for months to get answers — including attending events where he was scheduled to speak, asking others in the district to pose questions for me, and submitting numerous interview requests through my station group — I remained uninformed about Ed Gallrein. Why?
He no-showed events. When asked questions, he would say things like, “Son, go look at the board over there and that will answer any question you have.” The board (campaign sign) would only offer vague statements like “Pro-gun” without specifying his positions on red-flag laws, national concealed carry, etc. Much like you see in this video, Ed tends to give very general answers and avoids specific questions.
His campaign has also ignored numerous interview requests from many in the media, including my station group.
How am I, as a member of the media, supposed to report fairly on a race when I can’t get one of the candidates to respond to basic questions?
Frankly, the most unbiased story here is that Ed Gallrein won’t respond to questions, attend a debate, attend a forum, or accept interview requests from many different local and national media outlets.