Andy Beshear calls JD Vance ‘fake,’ ‘phony’ after Biden comments

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear answers a question during an interview in Frankfort, Kentucky, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) called Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) a “fraud” and a “phony” after the GOP vice presidential nominee criticized Democrats — particularly Vice President Harris — for not publicly raising concerns about President Biden’s mental capacity sooner.

In an interview with Kaitlan Collins on CNN’s “The Source” on Monday, Beshear responded to Vance’s criticism by saying the senator was “grasping at straws.”

“Listen, J.D. Vance is a fraud. He’s a phony. I mean, he goes from saying Donald Trump is like Hitler to now pretending he’s Lincoln,” Beshear said of Vance, referring to his about-face in support of the president and his running mate.

Vance began his career in the public eye by writing a best-selling book that was highly critical of Trump and his presidency. Vance called himself a “never Trump guy” and described Trump as an idiot and reprehensible. Behind closed doors, Vance is said to have compared Trump to Hitler.

In the Senate, however, Vance is one of Trump’s most ardent supporters and a champion of the “America first” mentality in his policy approach.

“I mean, the problem with J.D. Vance is he doesn’t have a single conviction, but I think his running mate has 34,” Beshear added, referring to Trump’s conviction in New York on 34 counts of falsifying corporate records in a conspiracy to hide potentially damaging information from the public in the run-up to the 2016 election.

Beshear was responding to a clip from a rally earlier Monday, when Vance criticized Democrats for only now speaking out against President Biden. Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday but has said he has no plans to resign before then.

“This is not okay, ladies and gentlemen. You can’t take a man for three and a half years who clearly didn’t have the mental capacity to do the job,” Vance said Monday at a rally in Middletown, Ohio — his first solo rally since joining the list.

“Kamala Harris lied about it. My Democratic colleagues in the Senate lied about it. The media lied about it. Everyone who saw Joe Biden knew he was not up to the job, and for three years they said nothing until he became a political dead weight,” Vance continued.

Before calling Vance a “phony,” Beshear was responding to the way Vance referred to the vice president, the clear favorite to replace Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.

“Well, first he should call the vice president by her title. She earned it. She’s Vice President Harris,” Beshear said.

Beshear, a popular Democratic governor in a state where the Democratic Party holds the lead, has been mentioned as one of the candidates who could serve as Harris’ hypothetical vice president if she wins the Democratic nomination.