Governor Andy Beshear
speaker
115 appearances
4 recordings
2 series
first heard May 2025
last heard 6 May
Governor Andy Beshear’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 2 in all, peaking in May 2026 with 1.
Appearances
But we talk in terms of what's going on in our state, what's next, and how we can build that better life. And such great leaders that are out there. Everybody you mentioned, you look at Josh Stein and Roy Cooper before him. You look at Jared Polis. You look at Josh Green, Bob Ferguson, now coming in in Washington. Katie Hobbs in Arizona. Just Mara Healy in Massachusetts.
I think it's three things that we as Democratic leaders ought to be doing. Number one, focus. focus on those core areas, spend 80% of your time, not just in what you're talking about, but what you're doing, focused on jobs, healthcare, infrastructure, education, and public safety. Second, talk like a normal human being. I mean, we've got all these sanitized words. John, unfortunately, my state,
Has gotten hit with the opioid crisis more than just about any other, though we have two straight years of decreasing overdose deaths, thank God. Decreasing? Yes. Oh. Yes, and we hope it's a national trend, and I think I'm going to have some really good news next week that I'm really grateful for.
A lot of hard work, a lot of great people working in recovery, a lot of great work by law enforcement. Sadly, all of us having lost a lot of people we care about and trying to make sure that it doesn't happen. Changes in prescribing, which has been really important. But let me tell you, everyone I know that has fought addiction has called it addiction. They don't say it's substance use disorder.
Everybody who's, yeah, everybody's experiencing hunger. None of them call it food insecurity, but I'll give you another one. Right. Justice-involved population. Say that again?
Well, you get pressure by people who mean well to use them. But when we talk in terms, in those sanitized terms, it has no emotion and no feeling. And that's not how people talk to each other. And so it makes you seem distance, distracted, maybe even professorial.
I don't think it is, but I think the point that you're making is you'd never hear that amongst your friends. You'd never hear that amongst coworkers. And so if you hear that from someone in office or running for office, how different does it sound? How detached from the world we live in? And that leads me into the last thing I think people need to do, which is explain your why.
Democrats talk about what they're for in minute detail. Every single bit of what they're for, but never why they're for it. So to give you an example, during my election year, I vetoed the nastiest piece of anti-LGBTQ legislation my state had ever seen. It was picking on kids.
It was an anti-trans piece of legislation directly targeting children that are already picked on way too much. And when I explained my why, I told people that this is my faith that teaches me that all children are children of God. And that if the legislature was going to show hate towards these children, I wanted to show them love.
I wanted them to see that a governor sees them and cares about them. And I'll never forget the next day I had somebody walk up to me and I thought, oh, no. Stuck out his hand. I shook it. And he said, I'm not sure I agree with what you did, but I know you're doing what you think is right. So when we talk about that, why?
Sometimes we can get beyond that one hot issue and get more towards, are the people running our state or running for office trying to do what they think is right?
There is a super, super majority on the other side. I'm not sure that there's anything really super about it.
They do. But I wanted those kids to know that I care about them. When I vetoed anti-diversity legislation, I wanted everyone to feel welcome. And there's a power in that, John, about a governor saying – I believe in you. I see you for who you are. And I believe that there's an important place in Kentucky for you. And I get to hear that, but I mainly do it just because it's the right thing.
And sometimes we get away from that. Oftentimes the right thing is the right political thing. But if people see you standing up for your principles, they can respect that even if they sometimes disagree. Quick break, then we're coming back.
Well, I think the first thing you do is explain your why, which I was able to do. Diversity is always a strength. It makes us better. But then the next day, you're opening that next factory. You're opening the new road that's going to save people 20 minutes each way.
Yes, those pieces of legislation may fly through, but they will never, even as politicized as they are, be as important to the American people as that good job or being able to afford their kid's prescription. And it's just not losing sight of that, that you stand up for your principles, but you recognize that you've got to spend the majority of your time on things.
The greatest part about that focus is it helps everybody. A good job helps a Democrat, a Republican, an independent. It's truly that common ground. And so when I talk about what I think our road forward is, I'm hoping it's not just Democrats. I'm hoping it's Republicans, too. I don't want to leave a broken country to my kids. I don't want to see this type of division.
And I think that the most important things aren't partisan. And there should be a way in the future for us to come together.
Well, the Medicaid cuts would be devastating. That's the biggest one. Huge Medicaid cuts will wipe out rural health care across America, and that's not an exaggeration. It will wipe out rural health care.
We will try, but the numbers are enormous. The numbers that would be required there would tax the rainy day funds of states very, very quickly. Medicaid is a part of our healthcare portfolio, and it's going to need to be a part in the future. Other things that keep me up at night are the doge cuts or the firings that impact our public safety. I think about firings of CIA analysts.
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