Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman accused Congressman James Comer and political columnist Al Cross of making “sexist” remarks toward her, calling men who make such statements “as weak as the sexist tropes are.”
The claim comes less than a week after the annual Fancy Farm picnic, a longstanding political event in western Kentucky that’s famous for its rowdiness and speeches full of political zingers .
In Comer’s speech at the Graves County Republican Breakfast, ahead of the picnic, he said that Kentucky’s lieutenant governor endorsed his opponent, Erin Marshall. However, he “confused” the lieutenant governor to be Rocky Adkins, Gov. Andy Beshear’s senior advisor.
“‘No, no, no, sir,'” Comer said, imitating someone speaking to him, “‘Rocky Adkins is not the lieutenant governor. I said, ‘He’s not? Well, who’s the lieutenant governor?’ and they said, ‘Jackie-something-or-another.'”
Cross touched on Comer’s speech in an opinion column published Wednesday in several news outlets, including The Courier Journal , the Kentucky Lantern and the Northern Kentucky Tribune . He then wrote, “Adkins is in effect deputy governor, traveling more with Beshear, and a certain prospect for 2027, since he ran second in the 2019 primary. He got a boon when Beshear apparently didn’t allow Coleman to represent the administration at the picnic.”