JD Vance accuses Andy Beshear of wishing rape upon his family members
Republican vice presidential hopeful Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, has taken issue with comments made by Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear this week while attending the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
During the convention, Beshear was interviewed on the MSNBC program “Morning Joe” on Tuesday, claiming that Republicans were “extreme” on the abortion issue.
Beshear alluded to comments Vance made in 2021 in which the bestselling Hillbilly Elegy author took issue with the idea that abortion could be justified in cases of rape.
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“It’s not whether a woman should be forced to bring a child to term,” Vance said, but “whether a child should be allowed to live even though the circumstances of that child’s birth are somehow inconvenient or a problem to society.”
"JD Vance calls pregnancy resulting from rape' inconvenient.' Inconvenience is traffic. I mean, it is, make him go through this," Beshear said earlier this week.
"It is someone being violated, someone being harmed, and then telling them that they don't have options after that, that fails any test of decency, of humanity."
Vance took to his X account to respond to the comment, calling Beshear a "disgusting person" for allegedly "wishing that a member of my family would get raped."
William Martin, communications director for Vance, issued a statement in response to Beshear's remarks, calling them "disgusting" and "vile," adding that they "should not be tolerated in American politics."
"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 added, as quoted by The Hill.
Beshear has denied the framing of his comments, explaining that "of course," he is not wishing harm on Vance's family.
"It's ridiculous, but it's also deflection. JD Vance knows that he and Donald Trump are so wrong on this issue, and so he's trying to make himself the victim," said Beshear, according to The Hill.
Beshear's comments come during the DNC gathering where Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to officially accept the presidential nomination of the Democrat Party.
Many speakers at the convention have conveyed a pro-choice message on abortion and have supported legalizing abortion nationwide without any apparent restrictions on the procedure.
For example, Hillary Clinton gave remarks on Monday evening in which she told convention attendees that, if elected president, Harris would "restore abortion rights nationwide." After the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 ruling overturning the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, states have been able to enact restrictions on the legality of abortion. To make abortion legal nationwide, Congress must pass legislation or the Supreme Court must overturn its 2022 ruling.
