DuringCBS News Sunday Morning, national correspondent Robert Costa sat down with Governor Andy Beshear (D-KY) ahead of the November midterms. The segment was essentially meant to introduce Beshear as a potential 2028 presidential candidate and show off his brand of campaigning in a red state as a possible road map for Democrats nationally.
Calling out the differences between himself and Vice President J.D. Vance, one of the predicted GOP candidates, Beshear was quick to ensure the roots of his faith are the guiding light in his political ideology, and his belief that Democrats should engage more with people of faith.
The segment opened with Beshear depicted as an every-man, shaking hands and drinking bourbon with fellow members of the Kentucky Distillers` Association meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. At the podium, Beshear decried Trump’s tariffs on Canada, with, “bourbon down 85 percent in that country,” while he is, “not blaming Canadians, but this president`s insulted them.”
This eventually led to Costa’s conversation with Beshear, where he created a facade of not considering running. Rather, he focused on how his Christian faith was what gave him a leg up from his counterparts, and is the guiding force on how he makes decisions in his campaign journey. Specifically when it came to the Trump Administration and food assistance (Click “expand”):
COSTA: Kentucky bourbon might not be the typical fuel for presidential ambition, but the fight has thrust Beshear into the 2028 conversation. His new memoir quotes Jesus, who said people should follow in the footsteps of the Good Samaritan, to "go and do likewise."
Should Democrats be doing more, not only here in Kentucky, but nationally to engage with people of faith?
BESHEAR: I mean, think about the lessons the Bible teaches. The miracle of the fishes and loaves is one of the only miracles in the first four books of the New Testament. In a place of scarcity, Jesus makes sure that everybody has enough. Democrats are fighting to make sure there is food assistance for all of America's children, that kids don't go to school hungry, that seniors don't go to bed hungry. And look at what Donald Trump tried to do: He tried to cut SNAP benefits during a shutdown for the first time in history, to use starving Americans as leverage. That's not Christian. It's not the right thing to do.
Teed up by Costa to help guide how Democrats should speak to voters, Beshear added that Democrats must speak differently when it comes to the struggles of the American people (Click “expand”):
COSTA: You say Democrats have to do a better job of speaking, as you put it, "normal."
BESHEAR: Yes.
COSTA: What does that mean?
BESHEAR: We've got to sound like normal human beings. I -- I think that it's -- it was advocacy-speak that -- that was meant for the right things, right? It was meant to reduce stigma, but I don`t -- I don`t think you reduce stigma by changing words. You reduce stigma by -- by changing hearts. You -- you think about the term "food insecurity" -
COSTA: You don't like that.
BESHEAR: No, because it doesn`t convey what that person is going through. It doesn`t convey your compassion for trying to make sure everyone has enough to eat, like the word hunger does.
Costa even made the appeal for Democrats to listen to Beshear given his competitive electoral record. “Trump has won big in deep-red Kentucky, but Beshear points to his record -- one term as attorney general and two as governor -- as proof that Democrats can win in the South,” he noted.
In continuation of his narrative of a devout, Christian Democrat in the South, Beshear compared himself to former President Bill Clinton, who previously won over Kentucky in both of his presidential elections. Beshear rained praise on Clinton, who he saw, “as someone who was good at being president,” and connected both of their experiences to, “bringing in that outsider's perspective of having been a governor.”
Although Beshear lets his faith command his political argument and Costa framed him as the one to potentially chart the course forward, knowing all that we do, was it really wise to compare your himself to this President who was impeached?
Costa allowed Beshear to attempt to defuse one of the possible campaign points against him. Beshear went on to recount his family’s lineage in politics and poked fun at the received nepo baby comments due to his father's past as governor, in which he, "did more free legal work for that man than anybody in my lifetime.”
Setting the stage for a showdown over faith, Costa teed up Beshear to bash J.D. Vance for his:
COSTA: But he`s already on the offense against one potential GOP candidate.
And you`ve been taking on Vice President J.D. Vance publicly. He`s out there just like you talking about faith, writing a book, but stark differences it seems between you and him.
BESHEAR: Well, I try to use faith to lift people up. I see J.D. Vance using it to kick them while they're down. I see the arrogance, which he goes about his job and his life using faith to -- to judge people, to demean people. Engaging in the poverty tourism that his book Hillbilly Elegy was, judging our people and claiming the people of Appalachia are -- are lazy and that -- and that addiction is their fault, when opioid companies sent hundreds of pills into counties for every man, woman and child that lives there.
Using his memoir, Go and Do Likewise: How We Heal a Broken Country, as leverage against Vance’s own, by undermining the potential GOP candidate’s personal experience. While he harped on the importance of living as a Christian, he failed to mention what else Christians were focused on during this political climate – especially abortion laws.
This whole segment was essentially to show off Beshear. Costa made that clear when he touted: "Earlier this spring, Andy Beshear appeared at South Carolina congressman Jim Clyburn's fish fry, a famous proving ground for presidential hopefuls. (...) Where he looked every bit ready to throw his hat into the ring."
CBS wanted to give the impression that Beshear was first and foremost a Christian ready to meet and compete with Republicans for that demographic. But as usual, it was as empty as secularism.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
CBS News Sunday Morning
September 20, 2026
10:20:19 a.m. EasternJANE PAULEY: Midterm elections are less than two months off. But some political watchers are already turning their attention to the race for the White House in 2028. This morning, Robert Costa sits down with a potential Democratic hopeful, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear.
[Cuts to video]
ROBERT COSTA: In Kentucky, they take bluegrass and brown liquor, bourbon to be precise, quite seriously.
WOMAN #1: Perfect, all right.
COSTA: But this past week, at the Kentucky Distillers` Association meeting in Louisville, high spirits were undermined by frustration with President Trump`s tariff policies and war of words with Canada.
GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): But I continue to push the current administration to pull back these destructive tariffs.
Congratulations.
WOMAN #2: Thank you. Nice to meet you.
COSTA: Kentucky`s Democratic Governor Andy Beshear, just a few months shy of his 49th birthday, was there, shaking hands and looking to shake up Washington.
BESHEAR: The fight with Canada, even before tariffs, has bourbon down 85 percent in that country. And listen, I`m not blaming Canadians, but this president`s insulted them.
Democrats are going to do well this November.
COSTA: Kentucky bourbon might not be the typical fuel for presidential ambition, but the fight has thrust Andy Beshear into the 2028 conversation. His new memoir quotes Jesus, who said people should follow in the footsteps of the Good Samaritan, "go and do likewise."
Should Democrats be doing more, not only here in Kentucky, but nationally to engage with people of faith.
BESHEAR: Oh, I think so. I mean, think about the lessons the Bible teaches. The miracle of the fishes and loaves is one of the only miracles in the first four books of the New Testament. In a place of scarcity, Jesus makes sure that everybody has enough. Democrats are fighting to make sure there is food assistance for all of America`s children, that kids don`t go to school hungry, that seniors don`t go to bed hungry. And look at what Donald Trump tried to do: He tried to cut SNAP benefits during a shutdown for the first time in history, to use starving Americans as leverage. That`s not Christian. It`s not the right thing to do.
COSTA: You say Democrats have to do a better job of speaking, as you put it, "normal."
BESHEAR: Yes.
COSTA: What does that mean?
BESHEAR: We`ve got to sound like normal human beings. I -- I think that it`s -- it was advocacy-speak that -- that was meant for the right things, right? It was meant to reduce stigma, but I don`t -- I don`t think you reduce stigma by changing words. You reduce stigma by -- by changing hearts. You -- you think about the term "food insecurity" --
COSTA: You don`t like that.
BESHEAR: No, because it doesn`t convey what that person is going through. It doesn`t convey your compassion for trying to make sure everyone has enough to eat, like the word hunger does.
COSTA: Trump has won big in deep-red Kentucky, but Beshear points to his record -- one term as attorney general and two as governor -- as proof Democrats can win in the South.
[Clip from November 7, 2023]
BESHEAR: Tonight, Kentucky made a choice. A choice not to move to the right or the left, but to move forward for every single family.
COSTA: And the past success of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton could provide a playbook.
BESHEAR: But you look at Bill Clinton as someone who was good at being president, I think the last president to run a surplus, and I think part of that was bringing in that outsider`s perspective of having been a governor, where you have to run a balanced budget every single year, or you`ve got to start cutting mid-year.
COSTA: Beshear may claim the mantle of outsider, but his father, Steve, once served as governor as well.
BESHEAR: Yes, sometimes people try to do the "nepo baby" deal with my dad being governor, and they look at me and they say, "How old were you when your dad was elected governor?" And I look at them and say, "Thirty." As a lawyer, I did more free legal work for that man than anybody in my lifetime. He has still yet to repay me.
COSTA: Beshear is now chair of the Democratic Governors` Association, and tells us he`ll wait until the midterms, and after consulting with his wife and two children, to decide about 2028.
VICE PRESIDENT J.D. VANCE: Hello, Dallas!
COSTA: But he`s already on the offense against one potential GOP candidate.
And you`ve been taking on Vice President J.D. Vance publicly. He`s out there just like you talking about faith, writing a book, but stark differences it seems between you and him.
BESHEAR: Well, I try to use faith to lift people up. I see J.D. Vance using it to kick them while they`re down. I see the arrogance, which he goes about his job and his life using faith to -- to judge people, to demean people. Engaging in the poverty tourism that his book "Hillbilly Elegy" was, judging our people and claiming the people of Appalachia are -- are lazy and that -- and that addiction is their fault, when opioid companies sent hundreds of pills into counties for every man, woman and child that lives there.
COSTA: Poverty tourism, tough words.
BESHEAR: But -- but true.
COSTA: Earlier this spring, Andy Beshear appeared at South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn`s fish fry, a famous proving ground for presidential hopefuls.
BESHEAR: Thank you all very much. Let`s go get big wins in November. Thank you.
COSTA: Where he looked every bit ready to throw his hat into the ring.
You call it in the book, "The Great American Reset." And when I read that, Governor, I wondered, is that really possible?
BESHEAR: We`ve lived through a civil war. We`ve lived through McCarthyism, which by the way, Donald Trump is engaging in right now. Yes, we can get beyond this. It`s -- it`s the idea that your neighbor isn`t the enemy from within; it`s just your neighbor, and he or she is doing their best in a very difficult world. Shouldn`t we show them more kindness and less judgment? Our communion table is open to everybody.
