Transcript: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Nov. 17, 2024

The following is a transcript of an interview with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired on Nov. 17, 2024.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re joined now by Kentucky governor Andy Beshear who joins us from Lexington. Good morning to you, governor. You’re a blue governor in a very red state. How do you even begin to try uniting a country as united- as divided as this? Are there lessons we can learn from Kentucky?

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR: I think there’s absolute lessons that- that we can learn from Kentucky, a state where, last year, I won as a Democrat by five points and Donald Trump just won by 30. And I think it basically boils down to both running and governing, where people wake up in the morning and what they worry about when they go to bed at night. And that’s not the next election. It’s their job, and whether they make enough to support their family. It’s the next doctor’s appointment for themselves, their parents, or their kids. It’s the roads and bridges they drive every day. It’s that public school they drop their kids off at, and it’s public safety in their community. The goal here is to focus on all of those things, where, if people don’t feel secure in those areas, they don’t get to anything else. They don’t get to the crazy thing that some politicians said last night or this morning, they don’t get to that next piece of policy that’s out there. So it’s a- it’s about a relentless focus on people’s everyday needs and their everyday life.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah. We’re going to take a break, come back and have the rest of the conversation on the other side of it. All of you, please stay with us. More from Andy Beshear in a moment.

(ANNOUNCEMENTS)

MARGARET BRENNAN:  Welcome back to “Face The Nation.” We return to our conversation with Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. Governor, Kentucky has a lot of coal. It’s got natural gas. Mr. Trump has selected Chris Wright, the CEO of Liberty Energy, to be the next Energy Secretary, if confirmed. He’s also selected Doug Burgum, the governor of North Dakota, to run the Interior Department, and he’s promised to open up more federal lands to drilling. Do you have any idea what the impact would be on your state from the signals being sent with these selections? 

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR: Well, we’ll see. I mean, I saw the comments recently from the CEO of Exxon, which was a little different than what we might expect, talking about needing to move to greener forms of- of energy, regardless of what the policy of the day is. And I certainly see from companies that are coming into Kentucky each and every day, we just announced a new industrial battery facility that’s going to create 1600 new jobs. They demand a certain portfolio of energy. Yes, the lights have to come on, but especially over time for their customers, they want a certain amount of renewables. So what I’ve seen as governor is a private sector push that I do not think is going to change demands placed on states, demands placed on utilities, and the private sector ultimately moving us to a more diverse and cleaner portfolio. So here in Kentucky, yes, we have many traditional forms of energy, and they have really good jobs, and we want to make sure that we never look down on and- and we support each of those jobs. But my goal is to diversify our production as much as we can so that we have the jobs of the present and those jobs of the future.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You said Kentucky has something like 10,000 jobs related to electric vehicles. You really made a big push on that during the campaign. Mr. Trump vowed to undo the “electric vehicle mandate,” that’s what he called it, and he’s going to, he says, repeal the law that includes credits for green projects. Do you know at this point if Republican leaders intend to keep parts of that? And are there projections on what repealing that law entirely would do to the job creation in your state?

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR: Well, it’s really concerning. You look at a state like Kentucky that voted for President-Elect Trump by 30 points, and it’s 10,000 EV related jobs on the line, and those are only growing. Go up to Ohio and look at that $20 billion chips factory, which I’m a little bit jealous of, but happy for the people of Ohio and- and what that would mean in another state that voted for the president-elect. So you look at all of these jobs and jobs of the future that have come to what- what the administration will probably view as red states. It’s important that these projects continue. Remember, a lot of the people taking these jobs, jobs that support their families, voted for President-Elect Trump because they thought that would improve their job, that he was focused on their job. So I hope that he will get good advice, and I’ll do everything I can to get my message out through our federal delegation of how important these jobs are. And they’re not in urban Kentucky. They’re in rural Kentucky. They are game changing investments that- that have created a bright future here, and I’m certainly going to do everything I can as governor of Kentucky to protect them, and not because I’m a Democrat, but because I’ve shown my people that every single day I’m going to try to create a better life for them, and that’s what those jobs do.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah, 14 billion between now and 2030 was what was promised to your state. I wonder if you just think Democrats didn’t do a good job of explaining that?

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR: Well, I certainly don’t want to do any finger pointing, because the- the Vice President had 107 days, and she did her very best, and I proudly crisscrossed the country in support of her. But what I know is, going forward, over the next couple years, we have a chance every day, every moment, to show the American people that we are laser focused on jobs, on their health care, on their infrastructure, on their kids’ education, just- just those everyday worries, and with this administration, at least right now selecting some very extreme appointees, it’s a chance to make a real difference, to really show people that- that we’re where their basic needs are.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, but there was, as you know, some analysis after the fact among Democrats about the focus on some culture war issues, or so to speak. Congressman Seth Moulton said, of transgender issues, “I have two little girls. I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete. But as a Democrat, I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.” He says he’s “speaking authentically,” and said Democrats should do more of it. Do you think Democrats have been out of touch on some of these things that obviously resonate in states like yours?

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR: Well, I think that- that all candidates should stand up for- for their beliefs and that- and that we don’t have to abandon those beliefs. You know, I vetoed one of the nastiest anti-LGBTQ bills that my state had ever seen in my election year, but- but I did two things. Number one, I talked about my why, for me, that’s my faith, where I’m taught that all children are children of God. And I wanted to stick up for some children that were being picked on in a pretty rough bill. But the second thing is, the- the voters in my state knew the very next day, I was going to be working on jobs. I was going to be opening a new health clinic, first hospital in our largest African American neighborhood in 150 years, we just cut the ribbon on. We’ve created two pediatric autism centers in- in Appalachia, so that people don’t have to drive two hours. So it’s- it’s both sharing your why and your authentic why for- for your views, but- but the other piece is about that focus. Because remember, if we’re talking about this issue of the day, and then we’re talking about what Donald Trump said last night, and then we’re talking about jobs. We’re only spending a third of the time talking about what people are worried about and what impacts their life the most.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Governor, thank you for joining us today. We’ll be right back.