MAJOR UPDATE: Kentucky governor issues McConnell announcement

I'm joined now by the governor of. Kentucky, Andy Beshear. Thanks so much. for joining me. >> Oh, glad to be on. Thanks for inviting. me. >> So, I want to get into a little bit of. the work that you and other Democratic. governors are doing across the country, but want to cover a little bit of. national news first, and that is the. situation with Mitch McConnell. So, do. you have any update first and foremost. on Mitch McConnell's state? And if we. continue not to hear from him in advance. of this August 3rd deadline where there. would be a special election called, what. options are available to you in terms of.

moving forward? >> Uh so, we do not, and by we, I don't. just mean me, but Kentuckians and the. American people do not have a real. update on Mitch McConnell which they. deserve. Uh this is basically someone. that hasn't shown up for work for 6. weeks. And everybody who who watches um. or or listens to you, if they're gone. from their job for 6 weeks, they got to. call their boss. >> Right. >> They got to explain what it is and and. give a timetable for when they return.

But Mitch McConnell won't do that to his. boss, which is the people of Kentucky. And it's a separate conversation, but it. tells you that people stay in Congress. way too long when they think that they. don't answer to to anybody. Uh so, what. I've done is is amped up the pressure. and now called on Mitch McConnell to. verbally uh talk to the people of. Kentucky or America. If he can. supposedly talk to Scott Jennings for 17. minutes, he can talk to you for three. He can call into a news station for.

three. For all I care, he can call to. Fox News and talk for three. But he. seems unwilling to do it. If he can't do. that, he needs to resign. His job. requires capacity, and he needs to prove. that he has it. But it's not just him. that I'm calling on to take action. It's. also John Thune, who is the majority. leader of the Senate. See, you can only. have a vacancy where I can take action. if one of three things happens: a death, a resignation, or an expulsion vote from.

the Senate. In other words, for that. vacancy to be recognized, the Senate has. to say you no longer have the ability to. serve, which means Thune has an. obligation to make sure his individuals. can do that. And guess what? I'm in. Kentucky, John Thune's in Washington, D.C. He can walk right down the street. >> Yeah. >> He can walk into that hospital because. Mitch McConnell's not going to tell him. no. He can evaluate his condition and come. out and tell the American people. And if. there is not capacity there, he needs to.

take action and do it now. But you know. well who else should do it? Is Rand. Paul. Rand Paul has said me calling. on Mitch McConnell to do this is just. grandstanding. Well, today. Rand Paul dragged an 85-year-old Anthony. Fauci. in front of Congress because he said he. needed to level with the American. people, but he won't do the same with. Mitch McConnell. I know they might not. like each other a lot, but this is the. fellow senator from Kentucky.

that has a duty to his fellow. Kentuckians. Uh so, for for me, um I'd first need. that vacancy uh declared by by the. Senate, and then there's an argument. under the law about what could happen. So, our state legislature was so scared. of me potentially appointing that first. they passed a statute saying I had to. choose from a list of three Republicans. if it was a Republican office holder. And then they wanted to pass one that. said there's got to be uh a special. election. But there is a section of the.

Kentucky state constitution that says. for statewide vacancies, a governor can. appoint. Now, the question is, does that. include federal offices? And that's. never been fully litigated, but I take. the constitution at its word. There is. no deadline of in August for that. potential appointment, and I'm telling. people I'd keep all options on the table. because look at what's happening to the. country right now. But, I do want to. offer a flip side, because I have heard. people say, "Well, if McConnell was in.

your position, he'd be ruthless." But, you know what he'd be? Ruthlessly uh he. he would he would look at the tactics. He would be ruthlessly tactical. And if he was looking at a seat the. Democrats had held since 1992, he would say, "Hmm, it might be better if that stays vacant, so there is one less vote on the other. side on all these different things. If. we hold a special election in Kentucky, a Democrat hasn't won it uh any of those. since '92. So, right now, we have one.

less vote for the Save Act. We got one. less vote for a replacement of a. conservative justice. Uh we have one. less vote for the war in Iran. We have. one less vote for a lot of dangerous. things, and at least the concern on a. special election is most likely someone. who is more loyal to Trump than Mitch. McConnell would fill that seat. So, I am both doing my job as governor. saying Kentuckians deserve a US senator, and a US senator has just a basic. responsibility to tell people if he can. do the job. While at the same point,

making sure that we are tactical at a. time when the country is in such a. difficult place that we're not helping. Trump by doing something that feels good. in the moment. >> I I appreciate that that really. thoughtful response. One last question. on this. When would you, if you do. decide to do so, when would it be the. appropriate time to actually take action. and appoint someone and challenge the. law that's on the books against what the. Kentucky Constitution says? Like, what. is the impetus for further movement.

here? >> Well, that impetus would be a vacancy. actually occurring. To to be able to do. that. Um and let me just throw in one. other piece. If if folks want me to call. a special election, I have a Republican. Secretary of State. who would run that uh election a little. more challenging in Kentucky. >> Yeah. And the Senate would have to be. willing to seat anybody I appointed or. came out of that special election. And. that's why one thing that I don't think. people are talking about enough is how. broken the Senate is. It's not just. Mitch McConnell, individual senator.

won't do the right thing. It's that the. body is abdicating any responsibility to. making sure its members are actually. capable of serving and doing the job. that under the law is is theirs to to. do. And kind of a final piece is I want. to make sure as we go towards these. elections and I don't mind criticism, it. comes with the job. It doesn't bother me. at all. But if Republicans are doing. something bad, let's make sure we keep the spotlight on. the Republicans that are doing something. bad. And the Democratic Party often we.

want to take all that attention and yell. at a Democrat that we think should do. more to stop the Republican from doing. bad. And and again, it's not the. criticism, but let's make sure we're not. hurting each other when we could be out. there winning elections because of these. bad actions of Republicans. >> So, on that point of the bad actions of. Republicans and and the the point that. you made about these Republicans in the. Senate abdicating their. responsibilities, I mean, one example of. that is that they offered up a housing. bill to the president to sign. That was. something in accordance with his own.

campaign promises that he outright. refused to sign because he wanted to. hold it hostage to pass the Save America. Act so that he could basically enact a. federal takeover of state-run elections. That's just one example. From the. conversations that you've had with folks. across the country, are they starting to. recognize that this full control of. government by Republicans, House, Senate, White House, are are failing at. their responsibility to deliver on the. very things that they campaigned on? >> Absolutely. And I think what people are. starting to feel is betrayal. A.

president that told them he'd make life. a little bit easier is making it a lot. harder. Uh let me give you the example. of a soybean farmer and I don't know how. many soybean farmers tune in. Uh but if. you're a soybean farmer, you voted for Donald Trump. Now, I know. a couple of Democratic soybean farmers, but only a couple. Uh and so, Donald. Trump comes in, you think, "I'm going to. do better. Farming's tough, but I'm. going to do better." And the first thing. he does is cuts USAID. And USAID is a. big client of yours because um to to.

make other countries like us better, uh. to create soft power in the world, we. keep people from starving. We send. excess soybeans through that program. That's gone. Then, because Donald Trump. doesn't like the US Department of. Education, they cut the. farm-to-cafeteria program. And suddenly, that's a second place you are selling. Then, uh in his uh tariff-happy policy, the worst economic policy of my. lifetime, he puts uh specific tariff on. China, and they say, "Fine. We are the.

largest purchaser of soybeans in the. world. We're not going to purchase from. the US anymore. We're going to go to. Argentina, and we're going to go to. Brazil.". >> Yeah. >> So, they're hammered, but that's not the. end of the story. Then, Trump starts. this war of choice in Iran. >> [snorts]. >> And it's not just the price of gas that. goes up. While you're driving past the next gas. station, look at the price of diesel. It's even worse. And all the farm. machinery runs on diesel. And then, if. that wasn't insult enough, a third of.

all the fertilizer in the world travels. through the Strait of Hormuz. >> Right. >> So, this is what Donald Trump and. Congressional Republicans are doing to. some of the most loyal voters that are. out there. And I'm speaking out not. because I think, necessarily, we can. move a huge amount of those voters, but they live in my state. It's. important that they can raise their. family. Their crops are rotting in the. field. They're having to declare. bankruptcy over farms that have been in. their families for generations. What. this administration is doing is is.

decimating the American dream. It's. making people give up and feel like it's. not even possible anymore. And Democrats. should be the exact opposite, that we. can make the economy and the government. work again. >> So, on that point, I mean, I I hear. everything you're saying, and I also. recognize that it should be difficult. for the Republicans to have any. plausible deniability here, because. again, they control every branch of. government, and all of these actions. have not either been created or. exacerbated by their leadership. At the.

same time, you know just as well as. anybody how strong the the the. the ties of partisan affiliation are. I. mean, you know, you defied major odds to. become governor in an otherwise red. state. You mentioned yourself that that. Kentucky hasn't had a Democratic senator. since 1992. I was I was three at the. time. And so, there is this this chasm. between understanding what Republican. leadership brings about, but at the same.

time still overcoming a huge obstacle, which is that a lot of people predicate. their identity on their partisan or. political affiliation. And so, is that. is that gap being bridged right now, where people both recognize the problem, but are also willing to buck some major. part of their identity? >> Yeah, I'm living proof that yes, uh we. can overcome that challenge. Yeah, I've. now won three straight statewide. elections in a state that Donald Trump. won by 31 points. I beat Mitch.

McConnell's hand-picked candidate and. two Donald Trump endorsed candidates. Before my election in 2019, he came in. and filled up Rupp Arena, where UK. plays, the night before and said it'd be. an embarrassment if I beat his guy, yet. we we still did. And and what it's. really about is proving to people that. we are the party that can make your life. a little bit easier, a little bit. better. It's about recognizing that most. people don't wake up thinking about. elections, they wake up thinking about. their job, their next doctor's. appointment, the roads and bridges they.

drive, the school they drop their kids. off at, and whether they feel safe in. their community. And when we can show, sometimes at the. granular level, that we are improving. people's lives, that we brought new jobs. into a place that hadn't seen them. before, they will change the way they. vote. Because people love their family. more than they love any party that they. belong to. And when you can better. someone's life, you can earn their vote. >> As head of the Democratic Governors. Association, what is your message to. Americans about what Democratic.

governors are doing right now in. contrast to the leadership or lack. thereof that they're getting from the. federal government? >> Oh, what you see in Democratic governors. are people who get results, that are. focused on your everyday life. At a time. when we have a housing crisis, our. Democratic governors are building. I'm moving people in Eastern Kentucky. from the hollers, the valleys that have. been flooding, and I'm building. affordable housing on top of abandoned. coal mines with solar panels on top. So, anything. is is possible. We're creating more jobs.

with better wages. The average wage of a. new job in Kentucky last year was nearly. $30 an hour. We're expanding health care. when when DC is trying to contract it so. that you can see a doctor where you. live. In our largest African-American. community in Kentucky, we built the. first hospital in 150 years. So, when. you see a Democratic governor, governor, you're not wondering are they. the progressive or are they the. moderate, they are the pragmatic, get it. done, better your lives, and people who.

who candidly aren't aren't standing up. trying to sway one vote this way and one. vote that way, but who are actually on. the ground, no excuses, no matter what. their legislature did, getting the. results that people need. And what I'd. tell you about 2026, is not only are the governors races. critical because they impact people's. lives in a state more so than just about. anything, but if you care about the map for 2028, it's going to be created by the.

governors' races in '26. When Rob Sand. wins in Iowa, and he will, he is. incredibly talented, um a good guy, a. campaign people should look at, Iowa's. going to be in play in '28. When Amy. Acton wins in Ohio, where we've got a. really good chance, Ohio would be in play. But, look at. Katie Hobbs in Arizona. Good Democratic governor running against. an election denier. We do not win there. And Arizona's off the map. Nevada and. Georgia, two great candidates in in uh.

Ford and and Keisha Lance Bottoms, those. are two races where if and when we win, the margin of error uh is a lot greater. So, if people aren't tuned in yet to. governors' races, you should be for a. lot of reasons. >> So, to that end, uh Governor, for folks. who are either running as candidates or. who are battleground governors right now. in this upcoming election, where can. viewers and listeners go to help those. people who are on the front lines right. now? >> Go to demgovs.org. That's demgovs.org.

And it can show you how to get involved, how to contribute, uh how to connect to. different campaigns and volunteer. In. any of these states that you're in, contact those campaigns directly because. we have great candidates uh running. great campaigns. And know that your. governor impacts your daily life more. than just about any other office, I. promise you. If you take General Ford. and make him Governor Ford in Nevada, things are going to get better. If you. take uh Mayor uh Keisha Lance Bottoms. and make her governor, things are going.

to get better. Let me let me just close. on this one example. In Georgia, they. have not expanded Medicaid. So, there. are hundreds of thousands of citizens in. Georgia that cannot see a doctor when. they're sick. When she wins, they'll be. able to because she will use every bit. of leverage she can to make it happen. It's the difference between being pro. and anti-healthcare is winning that race. in Georgia. >> Simple as that. Perfect place to leave. off. I'm going to put the link to that. website right here on the screen and. also in the post description of this. video for those who are watching and.

listening. Again, to to echo what we. just heard, this is going to be where. the front lines are, especially with a. federal government that won't pass. anything. The states are going to be the. biggest bullwark against overreach and. actually delivering for people. Governor. Beshear, as always, I appreciate your. time. Thanks so much. >> I appreciate you. >> [music].