Republican U.S. Senate candidate Matt Bevin is under fire from animal advocates for speaking at a pro-cockfighting rally last weekend in Corbin.
The president of the Humane Society of the United States’ Legislative Fund, Michael Markarian, is calling on the McConnell challenger to step aside in the Senate race.
"He has shown appalling judgment by associating himself with this band of lawbreakers and these perpetrators of unspeakable animal cruelty and he's brought discredit and disgrace upon the state of Kentucky by participating in this pro-cockfighting rally," Markarian says.
The Bevin campaign did not respond to a request for comment from WUKY, but the candidate did repeat his defense on WHAS radio Thursday that he has never attended a cockfight and does not condone the practice.
Bevin has also said he believed the gathering to be a states’ rights rally.
Organizers of the event, however, contend the rally’s purpose was clear in advertisements.
