Andy Beshear (Clip)
Appearances
Apple News Today
Unpacking Elon Musk’s claims about Social Security
I've been outspoken on the need for FEMA. We've been through the worst tornadoes in our lifetime in 2021 that killed 81 Kentuckians. We've been through the worst flooding of our lifetime, worse than what you're seeing right now in 2022. We have suffered loss and we have suffered damage at a scale that I'm not sure a single generation of Kentuckians have ever seen. And FEMA's been there.
Apple News Today
Unpacking Elon Musk’s claims about Social Security
Does FEMA need to be fixed in many ways? Yes.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
I'm very concerned. I'm very concerned with the actions of the president, his administration. I'm worried about the example he's setting for the country and how kids growing up are going to view not just this president, but the presidency itself. His policies are going to specifically hurt my people. tariff policy is going to hit Kentucky harder than just about anywhere else.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
You look at what's already happening with bourbon. 95% of the world's bourbon is made in Kentucky, but that's all the bourbon worth drinking. Sure is. But this time, it's not just a responsive tariff, say from the EU or from Canada, but Canada is actually removing it entirely from some of the shelves. You look at our auto industry and the fact that we have a company called Martin Rea.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
It's a Canadian company. It's got about 500 employees in Western Kentucky and its parts go from Canada to Kentucky to Mexico, back to Kentucky and back to Canada. So these tariffs are going to impact our state. Our number one export target is Canada. It's about 23% of all of our exports. And this president is picking on an ally and a friend in a way that it's gonna hurt my people.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
The other thing it's gonna do is raise prices for all Americans. And we need to be talking about it like what it is. It is the Trump tax. So with the tariff, if it goes into effect on Canada, it's gonna raise the price of gas. The amount it increases it is a Trump tax. Mexico, tariffs will increase the price of fruits and vegetables. The amount it increases it is a Trump tax.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
Tariff on lumber is going to make that first home even harder to buy. That extra amount that it costs is the Trump tax. And so we just need to be really clear that these are decisions being made by one individual alone. But the thing that moves people the most right now that they understand, maybe at a level that wasn't understood 10 years ago, is Medicaid.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
So in Kentucky, how I describe it is that it covers the people we love the most, our parents and our kids. Half of Kentucky's kids are covered by Medicaid. 70% of our long-term care costs are covered by Medicaid. And without Medicaid and expanded Medicaid, rural health care ends. That hospital that's in somebody's community closes.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
And then whether they have private insurance or are on Medicaid, they've got to drive two hours just to see the same doctor that used to be in their community. So we are seeing people respond and respond strongly, especially on those threatened cuts.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
So I think the first thing you hear is concern over the health care system. And they may or may not be talking about Medicaid directly, but they recognize that what's being threatened right now could really impact their community. So, in many Kentucky communities, the number one employer is the school system. And what they're doing to the Department of Education could impact those jobs.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
And the second biggest employer is the hospital system or the clinics. And so, you think about how this could gut rural America and jobs. I mean, I see it and I hear about it in each of these communities.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
Well, people should be alarmed in the very least that we have a president who apparently does not believe in his oath of office and doesn't value the fact that the Constitution only makes him one branch of government. You know, I look at whether it's the president or Republican members of Congress, they all took an oath. to defend the Constitution.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
Many of them took that oath, putting their hand on the Bible, making a promise not just to our country, but in some instances, the Almighty. And look at what they're doing now.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
Republicans in Congress are letting the president violate the very laws they passed and acting like it's not a big deal, being more loyal to their party than their country, being more concerned about how Trump will react than whether they're violating that oath and that promise that they took. And then with the president, it seems like everything is the us versus the them.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
It's the finding out who is the us and who is the them. And that's bad for America and it's bad for our future. Now, we're going to have to post this presidency, find a way to heal because we cannot be red and blue on every issue, left or right on every issue. We got to get back to right versus wrong instead of right versus left.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
And I do think that the more that this president does and how he talks, especially about people, is and will make an impact. I mean, take the veterans we're hearing from that serve their country and then go into the civil service with our government. They're being laid off and then told it's their fault because they did a poor job, which is a total lie. That hurts. It hurts them.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
So at 15 and 14, I've got to give them the space to talk to me about it, to make sure that I'm listening and not just telling. Because it's important that especially at that age and with me as a parent, that they've got the space to know that they're forming their own opinions. But they're concerned too.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
Now, my pledge is that we cannot leave a broken country to our kids and ultimately their kids. If this happens on our watch, which it has, our job is to not only fight to prevent as much harm as we can, but to also repair what is broken or what will be broken.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
Well, first, I don't think disagreement in and of itself within a party is a bad thing. Yes, we need a united front, but we're not following just one voice like you hear with Donald Trump. And that's, I think, a more healthy party and a more healthy democracy. What I think we've got to do is focus.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
I think we earn back the trust of the American people by, yes, standing up for important issues, but showing the American people that we're going to spend 80% of our time on what they're worried about the most, right? They wake up in the morning worried about their job and whether they can support their family.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
They're worried about their next doctor's appointment or their kid's doctor's appointment, the roads and bridges they drive, the school they drop their kids off at, and whether they feel safe in their communities. And so while the president claimed He was going to focus on those things. He's done anything but it.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
He has been obsessed with culture war issues, which means the lane is there for the Democrats to re-earn that trust. But I think that we've got to be, again, laser focused so that people see what we talk about and what we work on truly betters their lives. As a Democratic governor, maybe that's a little bit easier for me because Democratic governors, our job is to get it done.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
And we get dirt on our boots, right? We get out in our state. People want to see and feel and touch progress to believe it's happening. So in Kentucky, we're building the two biggest battery plants on planet Earth. You can bet I'm going there and I'm showing people what's happening. When we opened the first new hospital in our largest African-American community in 150 years,
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
I think President Biden himself would say they should have sold it more, but also that they should have done it faster. Sometimes Democrats can write in too many regulations, too many complications. And it's okay for both Democrats and Republicans to think that government should work better. Government should work faster. Government should work more efficiently.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
And we may come at it from different directions, but the goal should be to fix it, not to break it. What Elon Musk is doing is breaking it. You can't fire half the federal workforce and it still operate. You can't close the social security office
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
in an Eastern Kentucky community and shut down the call-in line and expect someone who lives on that amount alone to travel several hours to see somebody in person. But I think when you hear criticisms of the BEAD program, You know, it's been two plus years and there's not an inch of fiber in the ground. I know that frustrated President Biden and it should.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
And so I think as we move forward, Democrats need to be the party of getting things done, not just focused on that 80% of jobs and healthcare infrastructure, public safety and education, but actually getting the things that need to be done and done and done quickly.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
Well, the first thing we can't do is require a state to write a thousand page plan and then it be reviewed eight different times by different folks that maybe have never done this before and then turn it around three or four more times. We've got to trust our states and our localities that have a general plan that can then be monitored, but that you get it moving as fast as you can.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
I mean, people need to feel that impact. And I've always thought that if you can do a project 95% of where you want it to be, but you can do it three times faster than if you did it 100% that more people are helped and impacted during that process.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
I think it was a big challenge, but I think we lost the messaging war before it ever got to Chuck Schumer's desk. I mean, we were talking about a CR. And if we're ever talking, I mean, I can't imagine President Obama ever giving up to the elector and looking down at his notes. And it says he's going to talk about subsection three of the CR and what it means. This wasn't.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
about Democrats voting or not voting to keep the federal government open. And that's what the message ended up coming out as. It was the Republicans holding the country hostage, that they were going to let it shut down if they didn't get enough votes for Elon Musk to fire more people. And making sure that we're winning that messaging war simply by telling the truth.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
But by doing it in a way where we use common, everyday language, we get rid of a lot of the advocacy speak that's been out there, and we communicate like normal human beings to normal human beings. I mean, I keep thinking about words like substance use disorder.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
Everyone I know that's battled addiction calls it addiction because it's difficult and it's deadly. And that word has that meaning. Food insecurity. I've never known a family that's hungry to call it food insecurity. Right now we use the term justice-involved population. Those are inmates or folks that are in jail. They certainly don't use those terms.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
So making sure that we're communicating what's happening in a real, authentic way to the American people is really important.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
Well, I think what we had to do in the very beginning was show the American people that this was the Republicans holding the country hostage, and they were going to shut it down.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
If if Democrats did not meet their demands and those demands harm people.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
I think that the National Party lost the faith of the American people, that they were focused on them. I'll take the last ad run by President Trump in the campaign. I don't think that the folks that moved after watching that ad were moving because they're anti-trans. I think folks that are were already going to vote. for Donald Trump.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
I think what it did is it convinced some people that he was going to focus on prices and the economy and that she was focused on other things. I think what we've got to do in the Democratic Party is both stand up for our beliefs.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
Listen, I vetoed the nastiest anti-trans bill in Kentucky history and I did it in my election year because I don't like bullies and I didn't want people picking on those kids. But at the same time, I was opening a new factory the next day. I was I was working to create that new clinic in a county that doesn't have one. So you didn't have to drive an hour to to see a doctor.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
We opened a road called the Herald to many, which saves people 40 minutes on their commute every day that they can spend with their their their families. So making making sure that that it's not an either or that we can do both of these things and we can do them if we explain our our why. our authentic why. When I vetoed that nasty anti-LGBTQ plus bill, I told people why.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
And for me, it's my faith. That's my driving why. I believe all children are children of God. That meant that somebody needed to stand up for those children. And I'll never forget the next day, somebody started walking up to me and I thought, oh no, I know what's coming. And they started in a different way. They said, I'm not sure I agree with you.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
Then the next thing he said was, but I know you're doing what you think is right.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
And when we talk about our why, we can give people some grace and some space to maybe think about things a little bit differently or to not always have to agree with us, but know that we're still spending 80% of our time doing things that help Democrats, Republicans, and independents to live a safer and more secure life.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
And so you just mentioned that last... What you're for and not who you're against.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
It takes work. So when I started my my last my reelection campaign, we had had the best three years, two years of economic development in history by far. I mean, we we'd already broken in a three and a half year period, every record for a governor, for private sector investment, for new jobs. And remember, my dad had been governor.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
And he was number two. So I had to call and tell him about it. But when we started and we saw the polling, I was only winning on the economy by four points. Again, more new jobs and more new investment than ever before. And we did some focus groups. And what we saw is people just needed to be reminded. You'd say, well, what about those two giant battery plants?
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
They'd say, I read something about that. And then you'd say, what about the 5,000 jobs? And they said, oh, yes, and the 5.8%.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
billion dollars and so we can't just uh assume that people have seen the work right we've got to prove it we've got to show it again we got to get that dirt on our boots by the end of that campaign um our exit polling had us winning on the economy by 30 to 40 points so so it's important to have the record But you can't have an ego about this thing.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
You've got to go in and prove what you've done over and over and over. And that discipline, you've seen it in politics, means you might give the same speech every night because somebody needs to hear that message. But it's got to be about more than you. It's got to be about the work and the results, and that's how you get it out there.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
Yeah, I think it's those core areas. I think we'd say we as a Democratic Party are going to be the party of jobs, of accessible health care, of safe infrastructure, of good public schools, and of public safety where it's not just the numbers say you're safe, but you feel safe.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
And we have to, on that last point, we get caught up in the numbers and in the statistics, but we've got to recognize how people feel. We're the party that believes that mental health is just as important as physical health. But when somebody said, I don't feel safe, we had a lot of members of our party that said, oh, no, you are. Look at all these statistics.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
And so understanding that we've got to meet Americans where they are. And if the statistics say one thing, but people don't feel it, then we've got to work twice as hard. We've got to increase public safety that much more.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
So I don't think there's anything wrong with Gavin, who I know, consider us friends, having different voices on and having this discussion back and forth. I think that's important. And he's doing a good thing there. But when somebody stands for hate and intolerance and violence, lifting their voice up or putting it out there in a way to where even more people hear it, I just think is wrong.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
I don't disagree on Gavin's overall approach on the podcast, but I strenuously disagree with this Because of his words, people have been hurt. People have been harmed. Our country is a less safe place. People feel less welcome in different areas. And I'll always believe that love is right and hate is wrong. And I just don't want to lift up a voice of hate.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
So my goal right now is to be the best governor of Kentucky I can be. I love where I'm from. And we made some really great strides for our people. And there's more opportunity in Kentucky right now than ever before. And I'm really proud of that. And I want to finish this job for the people that I love. Thank you. , , , , , , , , , ,. M. M. con. con. con. con. con. con. con. con.
Pod Save America
War in the Group Chat
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The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Gets Destroyed by Dem Govs in Public
Hey everybody, it's Andy. It is Tuesday at 9 a.m. We have a booming economy in Kentucky. We've broken every record for private sector investment, for new jobs, and for new wages, but I know that right now things cost too much for our families. That you go to the grocery store and you see prices going up. That you fill your car with gas and you worry about the other bills at the end of the month.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Gets Destroyed by Dem Govs in Public
And right now in Washington, D.C., we have threatened tariffs that would raise prices on virtually everything, making it that much harder. But I've also promised to you that I would fight for Kentuckians, that I would put party aside, and I would do what's best for our families.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Gets Destroyed by Dem Govs in Public
So today, I'm going to sign a reduction to our state income tax to make sure that we put more money in your pocket while things cost too much. This has been supported by Republicans. It's been supported by Democrats. In the end, I support it because it's going to help you. I will always do what's best for our families. That's my job.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 3/21/25
Well, bullying is always wrong and standing up for people is always right. Hate's always wrong and love's always right. Judging people is always wrong and accepting them is always right. But I think what many Democrats are doing is misreading the last election. They're seeing that last ad that was played and thinking that the last movable voters voted on that anti-trans issue.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 3/21/25
I don't think that they did. I think what Donald Trump convinced them is that his opponent was distracted by other issues while he was focused on prices and the economy. And so this isn't an either or. As a Democrat, stand up for what you believe in. Stand up for protecting people. But at the same time, the next day,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 3/21/25
be out there opening that new factory, be in your community cutting the ribbon on the new clinic where people are gonna be able to see a doctor that are right there. Be out there making sure that public safety is improving for everybody.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 3/21/25
You know, we've gotta show people that you can stand up for your principles while at the same time being there every single day for every working family, regardless of their politics. We have to do both and understand that this is not an either or.