On Monday, the day before the 2018 midterm elections, Donald Trump held a campaign rally at the International Exposition Center in Cleveland, Ohio, as WEWS TV reported, and amid his usual stump speech staples about immigration, the steel industry and what he calls “the socialist nightmare” advocated by Democrats, Trump made a cryptic comment about Ohio’s neighboring state of Kentucky.
Referring to a time when he said he was in Ohio on some sort of business during the early stages of his career, Trump claimed that he would “sneak into” neighboring Kentucky.
“I won’t tell you…but I on occasion would be known to sneak into Kentucky, because I liked Kentucky,” Toronto Star correspondent Daniel Dale quoted Trump saying.
“I like Kentucky for all the wrong reasons, but I like Kentucky. I like it.”
Dale later posted to his Twitter account again, posing the question, “Does anyone have any idea what this means?”
Twitter users responded, and some of them simply had witty or snarky remarks. But others offered information. As journalist and author Mark Paul noted on his own Twitter feed, there may have been a specific attraction for Trump in northern Kentucky. “In Trump’s youth, Kentucky was the brothel for Ohio,” Paul wrote.
Another Twitter user uncovered a New York Times article from 1990 that may have contained an explanation of what Trump was referencing.
Take your pick from the traditional attractions of northern Kentucky. https://t.co/OeC1Jr4w5V
— Clay Harris ??????? (@mudlarklives) November 5, 2018
“This small town across the Ohio River from Cincinnati is hardly as seamy as Times Square, but it is the closest thing to it,” the Times article read.
“Every weekend, visitors clog Newport’s Monmouth Street, a weathered strip of aging nightclubs with names like Trixie’s Delight and LaMadame’s, each offering a different neon boast: ‘Prettiest girls on the Strip’ or ‘Real Class A Ladies.’”
Another Twitter user uncovered an article from the site North Kentucky Views , detailing the activities in Newport, Kentucky, also known as “Sin City,” which has “a state-wide reputation as a hang-out for crooks and murderers.”
Were these the “wrong reasons” that drew Trump to “sneak into” Kentucky? Other Twitter users seemed to think so.
https://twitter.com/Zeddary/status/1059540932549320704
Trump on his time in Ohio as a young business guy: “I won’t tell you.but on occasion would be known2sneak into Kentucky, because I liked Kentucky. I like Kentucky for all the wrong reasons, but I like Kentucky. I like it.” THE prostitutes were in Kentucky across from Cincinnati
— @DEMS VOTE WE WIN (@we_dems) November 5, 2018
https://twitter.com/markchildress/status/1059551581904035841
Trump is now flirting with the women of Kentucky. ????
How soon can this be over? https://t.co/uVehM7eUnJ
— colene b. durocher ?? (@cocobadu) November 5, 2018
Was … Trump sneaking into the horses’ dressing room at the Kentucky Derby or something? https://t.co/sRhx0GaGe2
— David Futrelle (@DavidFutrelle) November 5, 2018
Why when doing business in Ohio Trump wold got over to Kentucky where they had prostitution gambling and drugs. https://t.co/Tagibz8OHp
— Mary Beth Miller (@BOBSarmymom) November 5, 2018
Trump also made curious comments on other topics, at one point referring to his meetings with “dictators,” according to Dale on his Twitter account.
“Trump says that with presidents, prime ministers, kings, queens, and “some dictators, but we don’t mention that,” they all tell him immediately that he has the hottest economy anywhere in the world,” Dale reported.
