Vance accuses Andy Beshear of wishing ‘rape’ on his family. Governor says that’s ridiculous

JD Vance is accusing Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear of “wishing” one of his family members “would get raped” while criticizing the Republican vice presidential candidate for his past remarks about abortion exceptions. Beshear called the accusation “ridiculous.”

On Tuesday morning, Beshear condemned Republicans for promoting anti-abortion policies like not allowing for exceptions in cases of rape or incest.

“JD Vance calls pregnancy resulting from rape ‘inconvenient’,” Beshear told Morning Joe, referencing a comment the Republican vice presidential nominee made in 2021.

At the time, Vance said he did not think abortion laws should provide exceptions in cases of rape, purely because the “circumstances of that child’s birth are somehow inconvenient.” Since then, Vance has softened his stance and said he supports exceptions.

“Inconvenience is traffic, make him go through this. Someone being violated, someone being harmed and then telling them they don’t have options after that. That fails any test of decency of humanity,” Beshear said.

But Vance took issue with Beshear’s comments, and angrily responded by calling Beshear a “disgusting person” for “wishing that a member of my family would get raped.”

William Martin, the communications director for Vance, said in a statement that Beshear’s comments were “disgusting” and “vile.”

“We call on Kamala Harris to immediately repudiate Governor Beshear’s comments and demonstrate that regardless of partisan disagreements, this kind of violent rhetoric has no place in our public discourse,” Martin wrote.

The Kentucky governor later clarified that his remark was not meant to be taken the way Vance interpreted it saying that was “ridiculous” and a “deflection.”

“JD Vance knows he and Donald Trump are so wrong on this issue and so he’s trying to make himself the victim,” Beshear told MSNBC on Tuesday afternoon.

Beshear is one of two Democratic governors in the Southern United States region. As the governor of Kentucky, a predominantly red state, he has advocated for abortion rights by vetoing legislation that restricted abortion – though the Republican-dominated legislature overrode him.

“As a man, JD Vance will never have to face any of this personally but it’s sad that he lacks the empathy to put himself in a different position and to understand why having exceptions, why having reproductive freedom is so important in the first place,” Beshear said.

The governor clarified that he would “never wish harm on anyone” and reiterated that Vance was likely deflected.

Anti-abortion laws have become a key issue for many voters across the country since states began implementing restrictive rules in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned. States with laws that do not provide exceptions in cases of rape, incest or to save the pregnant person’s life have been subject to intense scrutiny and legal challenges. 

Traditional Republicans who have a history of supporting restrictive abortion regulations have been forced to soften their opinion given most of the general population believes abortion should be legal in some or all cases.