Tag: Mark Nickolas

The Story: Amy McGrath, the Democratic Party's hopeful seeking to oust Republican Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R - Ky) from his Senate seat, recently...

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Andy Barr's comparison of his job in Congress -- "where ideas matter" -- to his opponent's military service -- "where execution matters" -- kicked off a storm of controversy Thursday, and a request for an apology from a veterans' political group that endorses both Republicans and Democrats. With Honor, which has endorsed Barr's Democratic challenger, Amy McGrath, called on Barr to apologize to McGrath and members of the military, accusing the Kentucky Republican of "devaluing their service." Barr, it added, "has served as an elected official in Washington, D.C. To equate the two is misleading." Barr, in an interview published Thursday, said that he and McGrath had each served their country, though in different ways. "My opponent has served her country in the military, where execution matters." McGrath campaign manager Mark Nickolas said Barr's remarks were "spoken like someone who has never put his life on the line for his country." On Friday, Barr responded with a statement, saying McGrath was "trying to distract voters' attention away from her extreme liberal ideas." Barr added: "My record of respect and advocacy for our veterans is well known and irrefutable, and includes voting to reform the VA to increase access to community care, expanding the GI Bill, passing a bill to give survivors of military sexual trauma access to better care, increasing funding for the military to address the readiness crisis, giving our troops their highest pay raise in a decade and passing a bill to rename the Lexington VA in honor of two Kentucky World War II heroes." Marisa McNee, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Democratic Party, suggested it was "insulting to our current and retired military members to suggest that wearing a suit and dining with bank lobbyists in Congress is the same as putting your life on the line for your country." ------ This article was written by Lesley Clark from the McClatchy Washington Bureau and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the NewsCred publisher network.