.png)
On September 17th, Constitution Day, I had the great privilege of organizing an event for the Student Government Association called Fancy Ville. It’s a play on words from the iconic Fancy Farm picnic that’s held every year in Graves County, Kentucky (you’d be shocked to hear almost no one put two and two together). This event aimed to get students closer to the leaders that represent them at every level of government. We had a really interesting and balanced lineup that I was very excited about. The speaker I was most anticipating had to be Congressman John Yarmuth.
As someone who is fascinated with the news media, you could imagine I was absolutely giddy about the opportunity to interview the Chairman of the Budget Committee. As a McConnell Scholar, I’ve had the opportunity to ask questions to very important people. It’s something I put a lot of thought into, and while I’ve asked questions that I later wished I’d asked differently, I do always strive to ask questions that couldn’t be answered with a rehearsed talking point. How do you do that? Investigation. Now Congressman Yarmuth is a skilled politician. You don’t find yourself as the chairman of one of the most important committees in Congress without knowing when to voice your opinion and when to keep your head down. While this may be helpful in coursing through the ranks of one’s caucus, it isn’t particularly helpful in creating a national profile. He’s so rarely mentioned by the media in Washington that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accidentally called him an “older male member” of the GOP. The point of this rambling description of his profile is to say that there wasn’t a whole lot to ask him that he hasn’t already answered before. That’s why extensive research was even more important.
One source that was very helpful was a man named John Ziegler. When I was just a toddler, Ziegler sat alongside John Yarmuth for about four years in what was a local media version of CNN’s Crossfire. Ziegler and I follow each other on Twitter, so after a few direct messages back and forth I was able discover some information that would have been hard to learn by simply scanning the internet. That’s not to say scanning the internet wasn’t important. It was. For hours I researched every news article or video I could find about the Congressman. By the end I was pretty satisfied with the questions I’d prepared and the research I’d uncovered. For starters, Yarmuth had most recently made news when he said he’d run for Senate if Mitch McConnell agreed to debate him publicly five times. McConnell promptly agreed to do so, and so far as I could find Yarmuth had yet to speak publicly about McConnell’s response. Another interesting fact is that Yarmuth is a huge fan of the game of golf, and for all his disagreements with the President, he is still a member of Trump Doonbeg golf resort in Ireland. I thought both of these things would make for an interesting conversation. Speaking of conversation, I should probably move on to that.
The interview was set to start at 10 am in the Red Barn. I got there at 8:30 to make sure everything was set up and ready to go. I had contacted a news divisions in Louisville but none had given a firm commitment to covering Fancy Ville. That is why it was a pleasant surprise to greet WLKY at 9:30 am asking where to set up the camera. While the attendance was less than desired, there was still a solid 25 to 30 people in the Red Barn to watch the interview and more came in as it went on. At 10 am, Chairman Yarmuth showed up in front of the Red Barn, and by 10:05 am we were on stage ready to go. For the next 55 minutes we talked about his background, the Census Bureau, Nancy Pelosi, AOC and the squad, the governors race, McConnell’s 2020 Senate race, the Budget Committee, and, of course, Donald Trump. My favorite part of the interview was a bit of comic relief towards the end of the hour. I asked him if he’d play a round of golf with the President to potentially hammer out a budget deal. He said that’s the only scenario where he’d play golf with Trump. I followed up with a quick, “Do you think you would beat him?” With a grin on his face he replied, “Well he cheats,” but that, “straight up in an honest game I should beat him.” I found that back and forth to be the most amusing. If you’ve read this far, you’ve probably noticed my thoughts on this are not the most organized. I suppose that’s the nature of thoughts. I’ll just wrap this up with my overall feeling on the day.
To be frank, the entire experience was really fascinating and enjoyable. Of course there were some regrets, like follow ups I wished I’d thought of or having more people in the audience. However, overall I simply had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, it’s rare in life to find oneself completely consumed in a feeling of joy and importance. Those two feelings are too often mutually exclusive, but so I was on this day. Happy and fulfilled.
Malcomb Haming is a McConnell Scholar in the Class of 2021. He is studying political science and history at the University of Louisville.
Commentary is not necessarily a reflection of the McConnell Center. Thoughts presented here are those of the author.
Commentary is not necessarily a reflection of the McConnell Center. Thoughts presented here are those of the author.