Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is set to criticize Vice President JD Vance in Middletown, Ohio, framing his speech around Vance’s memoir, Hillbilly Elegy.
Beshear is scheduled to speak Saturday evening in Vance’s hometown at a Butler County Democratic Party event. According to prepared excerpts first reported by Politico, Beshear plans to argue: “[Vance] wrote an entire book that trafficked in tired stereotypes about the proud people of my state. Calling the people who mined the coal that powered the Industrial Revolution and two world wars lazy. Saying that addiction is the fault of people struggling — and not the opioid manufacturers who flooded our communities with pills. As AG I sued more of them than any attorney general in the country, and if I could have found more of them to sue I would have.”
Beshear is also expected to escalate his criticism of the memoir directly, saying: “JD on the other hand… his book Hillbilly Elegy was just hillbilly hate. It was poverty tourism. Because he ain’t from Appalachia. And Ohio deserved a much better senator than him and we all deserve a much better vice president. But let’s talk about how we turn this around. How we actually go win back those voters JD Vance is so condescending to.”
The Kentucky governor will further position his own electoral record in the Appalachian regions as a contrast, stating, “We have to talk to people and not at them. That’s how I won counties in Eastern Kentucky that normally vote for Republicans by large margins. Including Breathitt County, the county JD Vance pretends to be from. Donald Trump won this county by 59 points. I won it by 22 points the year before. So I know we can win in tough areas when we lead with what’s important to us.”
The remarks place renewed focus on Hillbilly Elegy, Vance’s 2016 memoir about his upbringing in Middletown, Ohio, and his family’s Appalachian roots, which has sold about 1.6 million copies and was later adapted into a Netflix film. The book initially drew praise from those seeking to understand working-class voters before later facing criticism from establishment media, including claims it echoed “common GOP talking points — prioritizing personal responsibility over community care” and descriptions of it as “poverty porn wrapped in a right-wing message.”
The film adaptation also “skyrocketed in popularity” after Vance was selected as Donald Trump’s running mate in 2024, “trending upward” on Netflix’s Top 10 list and reaching as high as No. 4 in the United States.
Breitbart News Senior Editor John Nolte wrote in a 2020 review: “I read Hillbilly Elegy earlier this year and was impressed, not only with how compelling the story was but that there was no sneering in Vance’s look back, despite the fact he ended up at Yale.”
Vance has emphasized his connection to Middletown and similar communities, stating in a previously released video, “I wrote Hillbilly Elegy because I wanted to give people a sense of what it was like to live in a community like mine. I didn’t think a whole lot of stories were told about white working-class Americans,” adding that he sought to highlight challenges such as job loss, addiction, and economic decline.
Beshear’s planned speech comes amid a broader pattern of Democratic figures targeting Vance as a potential 2028 presidential contender. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, speaking earlier this week, said: “He’s not the first vice president to have to effectively ignore his own values in order to serve with Donald Trump. And you know, you can tell that there is something off in the MAGA coalition, because JD Vance is uncharacteristically quiet.”
Vance’s press secretary, Taylor Van Kirk, responded to both lines of criticism. Regarding Beshear, she said: “Every time Andy Beshear attacks the Vice President to try to get himself publicity, he ends up humiliating himself in the process, but maybe that’s something he’s into?”
Responding to Buttigieg, she added: “Pete Buttigieg is an unemployed man who recently moved to Michigan and then chickened out of a Senate run because he’s clearly unelectable. The media should stop treating his ramblings as news.”
The exchange also revisits earlier attacks on Vance by Beshear. In 2024, Beshear faced backlash after saying on “Morning Joe,” “JD Vance calls pregnancy resulting from rape inconvenient. Inconvenience is traffic. Make him go through this,” a remark he later clarified by stating he would never wish harm on anyone.
Beshear also drew attention for mocking Vance’s soda preference, saying, “Who drinks Diet Mountain Dew?” Beshear later apologized publicly, bringing a bottle of the drink as a prop to a press conference and stating, “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.”
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