Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) is apologizing to Diet Mountain Dew after he inadvertently insulted the soda brand in a dig aimed at Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick.
During a press conference on Thursday, Beshear said from the podium that he wanted to “set the record straight” before he pulled out a bottle of the diet soft drink.
“I do owe an apology to Diet Mountain Dew,” he said, before giving a shoutout to Kentucky-based soda brand Ale-8One. “Ale-8One is definitely the soft drink of Kentucky. But I don’t believe the government should be making your decisions.”
“So if you enjoy Diet Mountain Dew, you be you, we want to support you,” he continued. “And to Diet Mountain Dew, very sorry, didn’t mean to say negative things about you.”
“Just remember, I am from here just like everybody else that’s speaking out,” he added.
The soft drink ordeal first bubbled up after Vance attempted to mock Democrats at a rally in his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, earlier this week, by saying liberals would see racism in his choice to drink Diet Mountain Dew.
“[Democrats] say it’s racist to do anything,” he said to the crowd. “I had a Diet Mountain Dew yesterday, and one today — I’m sure they’re gonna call that racist too.”
Beshear responded to Vance’s remarks shortly after, telling CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins on “The Source” that he thought the Ohio senator’s comments about racism and Diet Mountain Dew were odd for more reasons than one.
“What was weird was, him joking about racism today, and then talking about Diet Mountain Dew — who drinks Diet Mountain Dew?” he said.
Beshear has also called out Vance for the way he characterized rural America in his 2016 bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.”
The Kentucky governor said on CNN that Vance, who was raised in Ohio and spent time in Kentucky during his upbringing, “ain’t from” Kentucky.
“He is not from Kentucky,” Beshear said, before accusing the Ohio senator of writing a book about Kentucky and Appalachia “to profit off our people.”