Republican state senator is hosting a catered picnic at his 8-acre estate in Fairdale this month and inviting anyone who has been “bullied” by Republican Gov. Matt Bevin — including Bevin’s own lieutenant governor.
Sen. Dan Seum says the picnic is a nonpartisan event in which any group that has felt personally insulted or bullied by the governor — including teachers, judges, journalists, retirees and union members — are welcome.
“Any elected official is welcome, too … except for one,” Seum said. “Because when you insult my family and you insult me personally, then you’re not welcome.”
In the past two years Bevin has blamed teacher sickouts for the sexual assault of children and the shooting of one specific child in Louisville, recently adding that teachers only participated in the sickouts to get a paid day off work.
Of the teachers in his family, Seum told the Courier Journal on Thursday, “I don’t believe they’re thugs, and I don’t believe they’re greedy.”
Asked about Seum’s picnic, a spokesman for Bevin’s reelection campaign issued a statement that did not mention the senator, but said Kentuckians support Bevin’s economic record and “reject the Beshear agenda of opposing President Trump and taking Kentucky backwards.”
Seum made headlines in August when he broke ranks with his party to endorse the campaign of Attorney General Andy Beshear, the Democratic nominee for governor who is taking on Bevin this fall.