Andy Beshear talks about how Democrats can appeal to voters across party lines

Jeff Bennett:

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has become one of the most watched Democrats in the country. Beshear, a two-term governor in a very red state, won statewide office twice, even as President Trump carried Kentucky by a wide margin.

In recent years, he has navigated devastating hurricanes and floods, culture war battles over abortion and gay rights, and the economic pressures facing working families. Now, as Democrats search for a message that can resonate beyond blue states and with the 2028 conversation already heating up, Beshear’s approach to faith, civility and bipartisan governance is attracting national attention.

Governor Andy Beshear joins us now.

Welcome to the News Hour.

Governor Andy Beshear (D-Kentucky):

Thanks for having me.

Jeff Bennett:

So, like we said, I’ve won twice in deep red. What have you discovered that might be useful to national Democrats?

Governor Andy Beshear:

Well, for me, it’s about starting to realize that most people are not as political as we think they are.

When they wake up in the morning, they don’t think about the upcoming political race. They think about their jobs and whether they can provide for their families. They think about the roads and bridges they drive. They are thinking about their next doctor’s appointment for themselves, their parents, or their children. They think about the school they left their children in and whether they feel safe in their community.

So what I do is I spend 80% of my time focusing on court cases that affect all the people of Kentucky and the United States of America.

I think the second thing I try to do is talk like a normal human being. A lot of propaganda talk has crept into the language of the Democratic Party in particular. It makes it seem like we’re talking to people, instead of at people, or sometimes like we’re talking down to them.

I’ll give you a painful example. In Kentucky, we have been hit harder by the opioid epidemic than anyone else. We have all lost people we love and care about, but I have not lost a single person to a substance use disorder. I lost them to addiction.

Now, addiction has meaning. He’s that killer who takes someone away from you. Or, when you’re in recovery, you deserve credit for standing up to that really tough opponent that you make people feel because of the word addiction.

But I think the last point is the most important. I’m not just talking about what, because Democrats are very good at politics. We can tell you the second policy point, the third sub-point, the fourth sub-point, I, I, I under it. But we rarely talk about why we believe what we believe.

For me, this is my faith. It’s that golden rule that says we love our neighbors, we love ourselves, and the proverb of the Good Samaritan that says everyone is our neighbor. And so when I talk about the different decisions I’ve had to make, the different vetoes I’ve had to make, I respect voters enough to not only tell them what, but also why.

Jeff Bennett:

Let me ask you this, because there’s a lot of data that shows that your state’s major industries, agriculture and manufacturing, have faced significant headwinds as a result of President Trump’s economic and trade policies. However, voters there still generally support him.

What explains this disconnect?

Governor Andy Beshear:

Well, they’re waking up. They are waking up because we are succeeding in spite of Donald Trump, not because of him.

Now, since I’ve been governor, we’ve broken every record from private sector investment to new jobs. Our average incentive pay last year was $30 per hour. We’re actually making life better for our citizens, trying to expand health care, investing in those roads and bridges, and seeing public safety improve year after year.

But what Donald Trump did did not make life easier. It made it more difficult. His tariff policy has added $1,600 or $1,700 in cost to our families, who are already suffering from how costs are rising nationally. His big, ugly bill would destroy not only rural health care, but also rural America. He threatens to close 35 rural hospitals in my state.

So I think the American people are starting to see not only the fact that the Trump administration is making life more difficult, but that they are going about their business with a level of cruelty that the American people will not accept.

Jeff Bennett:

As we said, you’re a two-term Democratic governor in a red state. This alone puts you on the shortlist for 2028.

How seriously should we take the idea of ​​your possible candidacy?

Governor Andy Beshear:

Well, I have a lot of work to do this year first. I have to keep Kentucky on our winning streak. I’m also the president of the Democratic Governors Association.

So, before I can look at a race in 28, I have 36 races in 2026. And we will win in places people don’t expect. And it’s important that we do that, because when Democratic governors win, we do what Republicans don’t do. We govern well. We make sure we focus on our employees and their daily lives. We work to improve the lives of people in our state.

But if people there, especially on the Democratic side, want a map in 2028 that isn’t limited to five states with a zero margin of error, yes, it helps flip the House seat in Des Moines. But the heart of the governor’s office in Iowa is how we change that map.

Jeff Bennett:

Governor, as you well know, there is a real hunger now in parts of your party for a fighter, someone who will meet confrontation with confrontation. You are often described as thoughtful, even very kind.

How do you respond to Democrats who worry that your approach may not be the right one at the moment?

Governor Andy Beshear:

I will not confuse kindness with weakness. She opposed the current Republican governor of Kentucky, who was Donald Trump before Donald Trump. And I’m the one still standing.

She faced off against a rising star in the Republican National Committee who was supported by Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell. I just do it differently. I’ve always learned that if someone screams and you scream at them, no one can hear anything. And I think by 2028, Democrats, Republicans and independents will want anything but someone like Donald Trump.

So the democratic version of that, it doesn’t heal the country. It doesn’t bring us together again. I think people will want stability. They want their children, and I want my children to have a stable United States, where I don’t have to worry about its future existence on a daily basis. I believe this is what all our families long for and what they deserve.

Jeff Bennett:

I want to come back to this question of faith, because you announced a book coming out in the fall. It is described as “an insightful book that reclaims faith as a force for good in public life and rebukes those who use it to harm and discriminate.” This is what is on the publisher’s website.

When a lot of white evangelicals have already fused their faith with a particular movement, the MAGA movement, Donald Trump, they’ve broadly supported Trump in the last three elections, is your book trying to convince them or is it speaking to a completely different constituency?

Governor Andy Beshear:

Well, the book speaks to anyone, whether you’re a person of faith or not, regardless of your religion. It is about the fact that faith calls us to help people and not to harm people.

One of the inspirations for the book for me was I remember being in church one Sunday and the pastor said to me, you know when your faith gets hijacked when all of a sudden your God hates the same people you hate. Thus, when writing the title of the book “Go and Do Likewise,” these were the final words of the parable of the Good Samaritan.

It’s not just a story. It’s an instruction that we’re supposed to lift people up, not kick them down. And what you’ll see in the book is that I’m going to criticize them when we have leaders who make decisions that hurt people, especially when they’re against the example that Jesus set.

I’m thinking about Donald Trump’s cuts to SNAP. About 100,000 people will lose their SNAP benefits in Kentucky, and the fact that he became the first president in history to not fund SNAP during a government shutdown. Well, the miracle of the fish and the loaves, which is about people getting enough to eat, is in the first four books of the Bible, the first four books.

This means that it is very important to call yourself a Christian.

Jeff Bennett:

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, thanks again for your time this evening. We appreciate that.

Governor Andy Beshear:

Thank you.