By Bella Butler
On September 15th, 2026, Charles Booker, Democratic nominee vying for retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell’s seat, held a town hall and rally at the University of Kentucky’s Worsham Cinema hosted by UK College Democrats and the Fayette County Democratic Party. Concluding this event, Booker asked, “Do you believe Kentucky is worth fighting for?” With those words, the audience roared as they bared campaign signs, hats and buttons. 30 minutes prior, The Stempel Journal of International Affairs met for an exclusive interview with Booker focused on international affairs and Kentucky’s position on the world stage.
In an unassuming hallway in the Gatton Student Center, the interview began with a background set by faint chatter of students.
“I’ve been very clear: we need to rescind this mess,” Booker said passionately when asked about Trump-imposed tariffs and what he would do differently to protect Kentucky workers and businesses.
Booker stated, “I’ve been very vocal in calling out these tariffs because they’ve hurt a lot of people across Kentucky, a lot of our key industries, a lot of small businesses. Working people are struggling to afford to get by because it’s essentially been a tax on working people, and Trump has recklessly thrown these tariffs around, having temper tantrums, getting in a trade war with Canada now.” Booker continued with criticism against his opponent U.S. Rep. Andy Barr as he declared “my opponent Andy Barr is essentially rubber stamped all of it, saying that he has no problem with the fact that this is hurting our farmers, hurting our industries here.”
After discussing the Supreme Court’s Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump ruling, which held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act doesn’t authorize the president to impose tariffs, Booker finished his response with this: “Kentucky needs a refund. I’m fighting to make sure we get our money back and to make sure that our economy has the security and stability that we need to grow.”
As the interview continued, I asked Booker, “How would you explain the importance of U.S. engagement abroad to a Kentuckian who feels we should focus more on problems at home?”
Booker replied, “My message here in Kentucky is that from the hood to the holler, we’re family. That’s true on the global stage as well.” He continued “You know, I believe in order for us to take care of home, we have to continue to have leadership on the global stage because we’re all connected… leadership that can lead with diplomacy, lead with values of humanity, it helps to make sure that we’re safer at home, that our economy is stable.” Booker then pivoted the conversation towards the current war with Iran stating, “it’s jacking up the cost of diesel and it’s hurting farmers here.” He then stated that Andy Barr would “sign a blank check for endless war”, which he later doubled down on during his rally speech.
Booker’s concerns arose as fuel costs reached record highs in Kentucky. Reporters statewide have been covering the impacts this has had on local farmers, detailing how local farmers’ bottom lines are being affected by these rising costs, with some attributing these concerns to the ongoing conflict in Iran. Additionally, while Rep. Andy Barr has made no sweeping statement endorsing “endless war”, he has historically supported Trump’s military actions against Iran and has voted to support future efforts to “confront Iran”.
When I asked Booker what he would want the future U.S.-Israel relationship to look like, Booker said he would want the relationship to prioritize “peace and humanity and leading on those values instead of essentially selling out to hateful belief”. After affirming “this is a difficult time for so many of our Jewish loved ones, and certainly our Palestinian loved ones”, Booker reiterated his previous call for an arms embargo on Israel. He concluded this answer by speaking of previous work he has done “helping to lead the antisemitism task force in the office of Governor Beshear” and “work[ing] on the ground with faith leaders across Kentucky”.
As a final question, I asked Booker, “as AI reshapes the global economy, how would you make sure Kentucky workers benefit from that transition rather than being displaced by it?”
Booker expressed a mixed view of AI: “I believe AI should be used as a tool to benefit working people instead of a hammer to crush working people.” Booker pointed to what he saw as examples of the “hammer”, including “data centers that are essentially being thrown all over the place with no regard for the community”, “jobs… being just wiped away”, and “AI… being used to exploit people… used to prey on people online”. To combat these issues, Booker stated he “called for a Human Labor Protection Bureau” to ensure federal protections against these AI-related concerns. Booker ended his answer at a similar place to where he started, saying “There’s a lot of ways that we can leverage this innovation to make life easier, to streamline processes, to give more communities that have been left behind the tools they need. But it can’t come at the expense of working people”.
Concluding our interview, after a handshake and a brief exchange of pleasantries, Booker prepared for his introduction to the crowd (featuring his walkout song Not Like Us by Kendrick Lamar). The rally in total lasted approximately 22 minutes (including an introduction by Senator Reggie Thomas), and while online marketing of the event urged attendees to bring in questions, no audience question-and-answer session was held.
The Stempel Journal also requested an interview with Republican U.S. Senate nominee Andy Barr regarding his views on international affairs. His campaign had not responded to the request as of publication.
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