LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear issued an apology to a popular soft drink Thursday after a disagreement with U.S. Sen. JD Vance earlier in the week.
During a Team Kentucky update, Beshear said he can admit when he goes over the line, but that he wanted to set the record straight. He then pulled out a diet Mountain Dew and set it on the podium.
"I do owe an apology to diet Mountain Dew," Beshear said. "To diet Mountain Dew, very sorry, didn't mean to say negative things about you."
Beshear and Vance have been giving us a preview of what a potential debate between the two could look like if the governor is chosen to run with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Beshear appeared on CNN Monday night and was asked by Kaitlan Collins about Vance's comments.
"What was weird was him joking about racism today and then talking about diet Mountain Dew," he said. "Who drinks diet Mountain Dew? But in all seriousness, he ain't from here. He is not from Kentucky. This is a guy who would come maybe in the summers for some period of time, or to weddings or funerals."
"And then he claims to be from eastern Kentucky, writes a book about it to profit off our people. And then he calls us lazy. This especially makes me angry about our people in eastern Kentucky. These are the hard-working coal miners who powered the industrial revolution. He calls them lazy and acts like he understands our culture and he's one of us. He's not. This is a guy who went out to Silicon Valley and trying to be an Every Man. He ain't one of us."
Vance joked at a campaign rally Monday that he drank a diet Mountain Dew and Democrats would somehow find a way to call that racist.
"Ale-8-One is definitely the soft drink of Kentucky, but I don't believe that government should be making your decisions," Beshear said on Thursday. "So if you enjoy diet Mountain Dew, you be you, we want to support you."
On Monday morning, Beshear endorsed Harris on MSNBC's Morning Joe. Multiple reports published since Joe Biden announced he would end his reelection bid Sunday said the Kentucky governor was among the top choices to run with Harris.
ABC News and the Associated Press reported Tuesday Beshear is one of four people being vetted by the Harris campaign.
