Beshear apologizes for remark about Mountain Dew

Gov. Andy Beshear apologized Thursday for something he said in remarks about Ohio Sen. JD Vance being inauthentically Appalachian.

Beshear, at his regularly scheduled news conference at the Kentucky State Capitol, pulled out a bottle of Diet Mountain Dew and apologized to the makers of the soft drink. Earlier in the week, the Republican vice-presidential nominee had said at a rally in Ohio that he’d had a Diet Mountain Dew that day and fully expected to be called a “racist” because of it.

Beshear, in a CNN interview, called the comment “weird” and added: “Who drinks Diet Mountain Dew?”

On Thursday he walked back the remark.

“Folks, I’ve been a person that when sometimes I’ve gone over the line, I’ve wanted to make sure that I set the record straight, so, I do owe an apology to Diet Mountain Dew,” Beshear said.

Beshear, who is being talked up as a contender to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket, held up the drink and said he was wrong to single it out, though he still thought more Kentuckians were likely to turn to Ale 8 One as their soft drink of choice.