Soda Pop Wars: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear apologizes for barb, but not to Sen. JD Vance

Associated Press

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has apologized for a comment about Ohio Sen. JD Vance earlier this week — but not to Vance. Beshear, one of the leading contenders for the Democratic vice presidential nomination, apologized to the makers of Diet Mountain Dew for questioning Vance’s beverage choice. Vance had suggested at an Ohio rally that he fully expected to be called a racist because he’d had a Diet Mountain Dew that day. Beshear called the comment “weird” in a CNN interview, and wondered who drinks Diet Mountain Dew. At his weekly news conference, Beshear stuck by his criticism of the “Hillbilly Elegy” author for being inauthentic about his Appalachian roots but said he shouldn’t have mentioned the drink.