← Andy Beshear Podcast
Andy Beshear Podcast
Dean Withers on Why Populism Works, Young Men Don’t Trust the System and Charlie Kirk’s Death
00:52:36
He grew up conservative in Grand Junction, Colorado. He did his own research. And somewhere along the way, he became one of the most compelling young voices in American politics.
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- [00:01]
Andy Beshear
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- [02:58]
Dean Withers
Thank you for having me on. It's a pleasure to meet you man, and I'm happy to be here.
- [03:03]
Andy Beshear
I'm really grateful you're taking the time. So I grew up in a family where if you weren't a Democrat, you weren't in the will, but your Upbringing, I know, is a little different. Tell our listeners about your journey to where you are right now.
- [03:21]
Dean Withers
Sure. So I think first and foremost, where I grew up is probably relevant to this conversation, which would be on the western slope of Colorado. And I'm sure that there's many people who are tuning in right now who don't know much about the western slope of Colorado because there isn't much to know about it. But. But simultaneously, for those that do, you know that it's a very red, conservative area with towns like Grand Junction, where I'm from, or cities like Pueblo or sorry to Montrose, it's a very red area. And, well, because of that, I grew up with a very red family. Both mom and the dad from, from childbirth until. Until now have voted for Trump, stayed Republican. So, of course, in turn, because of their social pressures and biases, I myself considered myself to be a Trump supporter for a lot of my youth. But that quickly changed on January 6, which is a whole different story. But long story short, grew up in a very Republican family. So it sounds like we kind of had opposite upbringings.
- [04:17]
Andy Beshear
So you are one of the most followed progressive content creators. What was it that grabbed you that said, I want to do this, I want to explain my views to people?
- [04:32]
Dean Withers
Yeah. Well, the first thing that really grabbed me into the, into explaining my views to others and having discourse, because that's what I'm all about, is really just talking to people who disagree with me that I and I disagree with them in an attempt to change their mind or more thematically, just inspire people to critically think, was my declaration of a major in philosophy for the two years of college that I did up in Boulder. Going into that philosophy major, it really taught me a lot about how I could better think and structure my beliefs a little bit more objectively with a massive consideration towards fact, reason, and logic. And I would apply what I'd learn in class just on online debates and subjects that I felt very adamant about, like abortion, for instance. And it was just kind of this gradual process from having these conversations in front of a crowd of maybe 10, 20 to 40 people to now having them in front of a crowd and at some times of 30,000. And it's been so fulfilling for me because I feel like it's finally given me this ability to maybe share what I've learned or even learn more from having these conversations. And what I hear back from a lot of the viewers of, you know, you've been able to change my mind, you've been able to change my family members Minds really keeps me going, because what it shows me is material change in the world around me, driven by what we talk about every day on Live.
- [05:57]
Andy Beshear
So you've said that you would still do what you're doing even if you won the lottery, and that's pretty impressive. You wouldn't be on an island or buying an island. You'd still be doing this. What's your hope, let's say, five years from now, about what's your work will have meant?
- [06:19]
Dean Withers
Well, what will it have meant? I don't know what it will look like five years from now. And the reason why I'm being honest and telling, telling you that is because if you asked me what my work will have looked like or meant two years in the future, two years ago.
- [06:33]
Andy Beshear
Right.
- [06:34]
Dean Withers
I wouldn't be able to tell you that I'm at where I'm at today. Now, I would assume it would probably mean something similar, just on a little bit of a wider scale, if that makes any sense. Reaching more people, having new conversations about whatever's going on five years in the future. Or who knows, maybe I'll step into government. I don't know. And I kind of like to keep those doors open because at the end of the day, I'm kind of dead set on doing whatever I believe would be in the best interests of this country, insofar as changing minds and getting people on board with what should be common sense. And that's just so important right now, when we have such a large and strong pressure downstream from D.C. in my opinion, of trying to convince people of lies, of things that are not commonsensical at all, and it is just completely dependent on the world that we'll live in in five years. And what my reach at the point will be, which I, I have, I don't. I don't know what that will look like.
- [07:37]
Andy Beshear
So you communicate with folks all over the country every day. You've got your thumb on the pulse of what's going on in different groups of Americans. What do you think are the most pressing issues and challenges on people's minds right now?
- [07:56]
Dean Withers
Sure. Well, I mean, I think the most pressing issue on the average American's mind is affordability, and it has been for a long time. And I think that this is a crisis that has only been exacerbated by the Trump administration promising us a golden era where everyone's happy and everyone's loaded with money. But now we are seeing a year and a couple months into his term, gas costs more than it did when Biden walked out and the growth rate in real median wages has slowed. So, I mean, I think that affordability really matters to me, to the average American, to everyone. And that's not an issue that we've seen properly addressed by the gop, of course, but, I mean, you'll hear me say that all day, but, you know, also by many voices on the left, you know, really not honing in on focusing on the real issues that impact the average everyday American, you know, like the housing market, like groceries, like paying their bills. And I'm really hoping that coming into the midterms, we'll see a lot more candidates really railing in on that, now that we've seen that to be a proven recipe for success with people like Zohran Mamdani in New York City.
- [09:00]
Andy Beshear
Yeah, I think that's so important when I think about the challenges to this country that we're facing. You know, division is certainly one, but that belief by so many Americans that the American dream is slipping away, that you can work hard, play by the rules, and still not get ahead. And I think sometimes when we use the term affordability, we sound a little political sciencey as opposed to what is that next bill that I just can't pay? What do you hear, especially from younger voters and younger Americans, is it I'll never be able to afford that home that I grew up in, that I'll never get ahead the way that I saw my parents get ahead? What is it that you hear the most?
- [09:44]
Dean Withers
Well, what I hear most from younger Americans definitely has to do with affordability, of course. You know, starting life as, you know, a new adult in a world that just seems so unattainable in so many ways, so 110% affordability. But if we're narrowing the scope here to younger Americans, for the most part, I feel like I read a sense of disillusionment in the system altogether from younger Americans, you know, from being a whole lot younger in high school and being, you know, forced to stay at home. And we're not really understanding the nuance of a global pandemic and what that means for their neighbor and how it's actually maybe a good thing for us to do these lockdowns because they'll save lives, you know, to then growing up a little bit. And now watching the federal government refuse to release these files about all these really bad rapists that were harming children and then defending it in front of Congress or lying about it to our faces. It's that sense of disillusionment that it's. It's Us versus them. And they're not very honest with us, especially with a growing sense of resentment towards maybe some more of the long term cemented allyships like we would have with the state of Israel and, and younger Americans. Like, I saw this crazy statistic the other day that 70% of Democrats under the age of 50 don't support Israel, 50% of Republicans under the age of 50 don't Support Israel. And how that kind of plays into this more bipartisan issue that, well, maybe there's actors on both sides of the aisles that aren't acting in the best interests of any American. And I feel like those have been the things that have been on the minds of younger Americans. And that is exactly in my mind what has made people, as I already mentioned, legs are on Mamdani be so successful. Successful, because it's more so that honest approach of, hey, I'm gonna help you pay your bills, okay? I'm gonna focus on you. I'm gonna focus on the betterment of all of you, not just some of you. And we're gonna focus on the real issues, like what can we do to lower your taxes and make the top 1% pay their fair share? What can we do to lower your rent and make these billionaire trillionaire companies and rich landowners and property owners only charge fare rates or make them pay their own fair share too, and so on and so forth. And that's kind of where I'd say, once again, the mind of the younger Americans are at, is just feeling the sense of disillusionment in the system because of how much maybe they feel as if it has failed them in one way or another.
- [12:02]
Andy Beshear
Yeah, I think that was the approach for Abigail Spanberger and Mikey Sherrill, too, who, who ended up with margins of victory last November that were much larger than, than going into it any of us thought were, where possible. So if you were advising somebody who's going to be on the ballot in 2026, you know, we've got so many House candidates, it looks like Democrats are going to be able to make a run at the Senate, which should have been structurally impossible, but for where the country is. We've got 36 governors races across the country, something that I'm pretty vested in as head of the Democratic Governors Association. What would your advice be to those candidates?
- [12:40]
Dean Withers
Well, I would be that advice would be to look at what has worked. You know, there's, there's, there's a reason why, you know, every American was talking about Mamdani. There's a reason why you know we now know Abigail Spanberger's name. There's a reason why the Democrats won the mayoral race in Miami for the first time in 30 years. And that reason is because there's now an environment where the vast majority of Americans hate our President. The vast majority of Americans think our Republican led Congress is failing us. So now they have this opportunity to run against that tyranny. Now they have an opportunity to run against what we don't like and to really take advantage of that opportunity and seize that while also running on what the Americans do want. I think that we need to be putting more of a pressure against the top 1%, against the ruling elite. We need to be putting a pressure on Congress to follow the law, abide by the Epstein Files Transparency act, and that's what the people want. It's just be a progressive populace. In my mind. That's, that's, that's what has been working. I think it'll, it'll work more because that's what the people want. So in short, my advice would be is please run on what the people want, run on what the people care about. And you know, look at this disillusionment that is being experienced by so many younger Americans and treat it seriously, don't treat it as an obstacle that you somehow have to rhetoric your way out of or ignore in interviews and address it head on.
- [14:08]
Andy Beshear
We've had a number of focus groups. We've had high school students, college students, young professionals, and a lot of what we ask is how do you get your news? How do you connect with either candidates or the news that's out there? And what we hear from so many of them is through you, but also through YouTube and TikTok as that first, first thing that gets them interested and then they do a deeper dive for more. Tell us what I mean, you are a master at this. How you go about trying to pique that interest so that you can get these folks, not just young voters, all voters, to learn a little bit more about the issues that we're facing.
- [14:57]
Dean Withers
Sure. When I report the news, my main objective is for the way in which I report it to be at a level that could be understood by somebody who is completely apolitical without a background insofar as knowing the events that have unfolded in the last year, five years, 10 years, while still being able to communicate all of the substance of the headline. And what I mean by that is, is I feel like even myself when I was younger, 16, 17 and not too politically involved, would be looking at headlines or looking at independent journalists and trying to keep up with what they were trying to tell me. But I just couldn't really follow if that makes sense, because let's just assume that maybe independent journalists were reporting on Donald Trump pulling us outside of the JCPOA under his first administration, the denuclearization agreement that we had with Iran and the independent journalists, or the CNNs of the world would say, Trump pulled us outside of the jcpoa. You know, alarm bells are ringing, end of story. But what the hell is it the jcpoa? I don't know what that is. Right. So when I approach breaking the news to my audience, I always make sure to use words that are understood by the average American. I purport concepts which could be grasped without that background knowledge on the subject matter. And if there's something that has to be, you know, discussed that would require background knowledge, I also make sure to then share that background knowledge. So that's the way I break the news. That's a question that you're asking. And I think that the world would benefit if a lot more people did that, because we like to assume in our own political echo chambers on the Internet here that everyone's political, but that's further from the truth.
- [16:42]
Andy Beshear
No, not everyone is political, especially on cable news. They assume that you've been watching cable news all day long, that you can respond to a story that they put out an hour or two ago when most of us are going to work and not seeing that or going to class. What was the post, the video that you did, maybe that caught fire where you said, I think I can do this full time.
- [17:09]
Dean Withers
I think that that had to have been my sit down on Jubilee for a 1v20 debate a while ago. I think at this point, coming up on two years this September, where I sat down, I debated 20 Trump supporters at once, and then Jubilee turned around, posted that on their YouTube channel, and people, people really seemed to like it.
- [17:33]
Andy Beshear
So when, when you're in that debate, a battle of ideas, and it helps when you have facts on your side, how is it that you both try to argue your point, but also not disrespect that other person with a different viewpoint all at the same time?
- [17:53]
Dean Withers
Yeah, well, the thing is, sometimes I do find myself disrespecting the other person. And many times I do end up regretting that because some of the best conversations that I'll have on my platform are when we can freely discuss the substance of the claims being made. And inevitably, people will always be more open to change, rather than not when they don't feel like they're being personally attacked. And I guess what I would say here is I just really try to focus on what they're saying and I try to focus on why it's wrong and if those are my two goals of what are they saying and if it's wrong, why it's wrong. I don't find myself kind of entertaining those personal attacks as much, but I think it's important for me to be honest here. That's not what you'll see every single time you watch one of my debates and maybe that's something I could work on.
- [18:47]
Andy Beshear
You got pretty emotional after the Charlie Kirk assassination. Somebody that you had debated. I lost one of my closest friends in a mass shooting. It's traumatic. Tell me, as you you look back now, what are your thoughts and feelings on it? I know we all desperately want a world without political violence. Hidden value is all around you. It's in every app, transaction and network and chances are you have loads of it. It's your machine data and Splunk helps you tap into it. Unify machine data and insights pop up everywhere. Discover game changing clarity, intelligence for every decision and a critical resource to power AI. All you need is already there and it's fine exactly where it is. Your machine data is waiting. Let's unlock it.
- [19:39]
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- [20:15]
Dean Withers
Yeah, I was actually just talking about this on my stream right before I joined in, so that's a good question. So I would say that my thoughts and feelings on it have changed quite a bit the more time has passed. So first and foremost I don't like regret or pull back on, you know, crying on live, which is what I did. That sparked a lot of controversy and this is exactly what I was talking about before I joined joined this conversation and that was because while my best friend was there, he was 20ft away. First person he called, he was running away screaming, thinking it was a mass shooting. Regardless of my thoughts on Charlie Kirk, I think he was a bad person with bad beliefs who's still a person that I personally interacted with. So it was a little bit jarring watching a video of his jugular getting split open, or even how that maybe induced a sense of fear on my behalf of saying, now can I go outside? Which I didn't for the next three weeks after that happened. Stayed inside, got cameras, put them outside of my door, because I thought, maybe I'm next. And that was a very jarring and geez, honestly, just troubling, like series of events with. With all. With all that information. But, you know, a year and a half later, and now it's not even a year and a half later. What am I saying? I'm sorry. A little bit later down the road, I would say maybe what has changed are my thoughts on, you know, the role that Charlie Kirk played for the right, what he would be saying today about what is going on today, and maybe what is the appropriate response from the left to somebody like Charlie Kirk getting taken out. I think that it is important to condemn all political violence. I don't think that he deserved to die, and I don't retract any of my statements about that either, that I said when he was shot. But simultaneously, I think that a lot of people on the left are really feeling disillusioned because when that happened, people were getting fired from their jobs for saying they didn't care. And then less than a couple months later, our President Trump turned around and called for the execution of seven Democrats in Congress. Then everyone celebrated. And I think it's important for us to acknowledge here that if we want to condemn political violence and we have to do so in a bipartisan nature, and we can't have a president turning around and calling for the execution of some Democrats.
- [22:32]
Andy Beshear
I've made the exact same point. The idea that Trump will only condemn violence when it's against someone that looks like him, prays like him, if he prays, votes like him. And the scene that still hits me as a person of faith who believes in that Golden Rule is Erica Kirk comes out and says something that's almost straight out of the Bible, right? That she forgives her enemies. And then Donald Trump walks out right afterwards and says, not me, I hate him. Just.
- [23:07]
Dean Withers
Yeah.
- [23:08]
Andy Beshear
I mean, basically a president of the United States saying to a large crowd of people that he believes in the exact opposite of that Golden Rule. I think that showed that he is not willing to condemn political violence and in fact, has called for it on multiple occasions.
- [23:28]
Dean Withers
I couldn't agree with you more. I couldn't agree with you More spot on.
- [23:32]
Andy Beshear
What do you think is the next big issue that's going to grab the American people? I think we're certainly seeing some concerns over AI, especially in different communities. What else are you hearing about the next big issue?
- [23:52]
Dean Withers
Oh, man. With Steve Bannon's flood the zone technique that we've seen, you know, since the beginning of Trump's first presidency, I'd argue that we never really know what the next big issue will be. And that's something that's been really hard for me to come to terms with. One week it's Warren Iran. Next week it's the Epstein files. And the week before that, like I said, it's him calling for the execution of Democrats or, you know, maybe defending the murder of Alex Preddy. It's. We don't know what the big issue is. There's always a big issue. One week it's one thing, the next week it's something else. Now, if you're more so asking, you know, what are the big issues that will be impacting the average American compared to the big issues that Donald Trump wants to. Wants to impact the average American, you know, like you said, I would assume that AI is on the rise. That's going to become something we have to legislate on. I think that we really need to address the lawlessness that we've seen from federal agencies such as DHS and ice. I think that we need to hold the liars and the corrupt politicians and the Trump administration and the DOJ accountable for breaking the law and refusing to release the Epstein files. So I hope the next big issue is midterms comes and goes. Democrats win, and then Democrats turn around and hold a bunch of people in the GOP and the Trump administration accountable. And that's what everyone is talking about for six months. That's the next big issue that I like.
- [25:15]
Andy Beshear
So I've been critical of my own party in the response to the flood the zone. It's clear that they throw out 10 shiny balls every single day. And the question is, are we the cat that runs after all of them, or do we stay focused on affordability, on the things that matter to the American people? I've been a big believer that discipline and focus is how we win, not just in the midterms, but hopefully how we stay together as a party and keep winning, not just in 26, but hopefully in 28.
- [25:52]
Dean Withers
Yeah, I agree. It will never be a bad thing for a politician to stay focused on helping the average American through affordability, through other means. I like that. That's what our politicians should be focused on. But I do also think simultaneously that the Trump administration purports such a unique threat to the social, moral and legal fabric of this great nation that it is simultaneously very important for us to also focus on amending the wrongs of holding the ill willed accountable and firing those in which we can that are culpable for these wrongdoings, for the long term preservation of our social, moral and legal fabric of our great nation. And I think if we could find a way to do those things all at the same time, where we want to help the average American focus on accountability, address the issues that matter the most, while simultaneously also wanting to hold the bad actors in our government accountable, which would include maybe sometimes chasing the shiny balls that flood the zone. That would be the best approach for the people and for the nation.
- [27:01]
Andy Beshear
Give us your predictions on the midterms.
- [27:05]
Dean Withers
Well, I mean, my predictions are very limited. I'm not too much of a predictive man, if that makes any sense. But I would argue that we've seen a trend in the special elections held so far since Trump's victory. Democrat, Democrat, Democrat. Seems like, I mean, every, I mean, I was seeing a new video nearly every day for a while about, oh my goodness, a Democrat won this deeply red district seat that has been held by Republicans for the last 40 years. And Georgia, Tennessee, Florida. I mean, I think it was like what, like two days ago that a Democrat won a race for, what was it, the mayoral race and some, some place in Florida and one by one vote. And that position hadn't been held by a Democrat in 30 years. So because of, you know, what we've seen in these special elections, I think we'll see that in the midterms, too. You said it yourself, you know, when we first started a conversation that somehow the Senate is in play for Democrats, which is just an impossibility, it seems like, but it is. So I think that we're going to see a blue wave, you know, sea to shining sea, coast to coast. And I think it's going to be a day of celebration and then the day in which follows will hopefully be a day of accountability and which has been long deserved for many members of the Trump administration.
- [28:24]
Andy Beshear
So some of our listeners may not know what it's like to be a content creator. When you start your day on average, I mean, you post across multiple platforms, different content. How much of your day is sitting there cranking it out?
- [28:44]
Dean Withers
Oh, man, it varies. Some days it's four hours, other days it's 12. It definitely varies. I'd argue on average around six, six and a half hours of work every day, seven days a week. But you know, then when you have super big things happen, then I might be working from the moment I wake up to the day to the moment I go to bed. Good example of that would be the day that Alex Brady was, was killed by an ICE agent. From the moment I woke up at 9am until the moment I went to bed at 11:30 or 12, I was recording videos, performing, like analyzing the footage to dispute the narrative purported by the Trump administration going live. And, you know, that's how it is sometimes. But I love to do it because I want to ensure that there's good information out there accessible to the average American to maybe refute some of the bs, for lack of a better term, we're hearing from some of the loudest people in the country.
- [29:46]
Andy Beshear
One of the reasons we started the podcast was that the impact on mental health that the news is having right now, but you can't take a break, especially when the news is that hard hitting. So what do you do for your own mental health to make sure that you're still good and able to continue to educate a lot of our folks out there?
- [30:08]
Dean Withers
Great question, great question. One that I spent a long time trying to answer. Sunlight and working out. Those are my, those are my two things. As long as I'm working out at least five days a week in the gym and get at least an hour or two of sunlight a day, I'm good.
- [30:25]
Andy Beshear
That's a lot healthier than some other people's choices. What, what do you like to do when, when you're not creating content, what do you do to get away from it?
- [30:34]
Dean Withers
A lot of music. A lot of music. I play piano, play guitar, play. I spend a lot of my time composing my own pieces on piano. We're working on some jazz improv and hanging out with my girlfriend and other times watching tv. So those, those, those are my quote unquote escapes.
- [30:52]
Andy Beshear
Wait, I want to break some news. Here is Dean Withers in a band.
- [30:57]
Dean Withers
I have been at points in the past, I formed a band for when I was in college for two years before I dropped out. I say band very loosely because, you know, we never did on stage performances or anything, but had a group of buddies and we'd play music very frequently and it was so much fun.
- [31:14]
Andy Beshear
If you could take a week off, and I know you probably can't, what would you do?
- [31:20]
Dean Withers
Oh, man. Taking a week off, I would. I, I love the beach. I really love the beach. I might spend it at the beach somewhere. Or I might rent an RV and just take it on a road trip. That sounds really fun to go see Yosemite, Go see the redwood forests in California. You know, maybe take it down to the south. One of those two options. That's what I'd be looking for.
- [31:46]
Andy Beshear
People ask me, you know, how do you communicate so well with Republican voters? And I say, well, first, they're my neighbor, and so I just treat them like a person. But second, I vacation in the panhandle of Florida. So you have to be able to. What we like to ask people what their secret superpower is. What is something that you're really good at that no one knows?
- [32:08]
Dean Withers
Ooh, something I'm really good at that no one knows? Yeah, that's a. Geez, that's a great question.
- [32:16]
Andy Beshear
I'll tell you, Amy Klobuchar apparently doesn't need much sleep. That would be a productive one. My wife Brittany can pack a suitcase like no one I've ever met. You could be at the beach in Winniparka, and it is somehow in the suitcase. Cindy Munson, who's running for governor of Oklahoma, makes the best guacamole out of anybody she's met.
- [32:38]
Dean Withers
Sure, sure. You know what I'm really good at? Roller skating.
- [32:44]
Andy Beshear
That is an excellent one. Like rollerblading.
- [32:47]
Dean Withers
Oh, yeah, Rollerblading. When I was younger, I. I was doing statewide nationwide competitions on the blades.
- [32:53]
Andy Beshear
Oh, wow. See, back in my day, it was Champs, Roller dome. It's a little different. It was just whether you could limbo on roller skates. What do you want people to know about you and to take away? If you could write what you want your reputation to be, what would it be
- [33:15]
Dean Withers
inspiring people to critically think? That's what it's all about. I think that so many things are so important to so many Americans, like entertainment, football, and tv. But one thing that's not too important to many Americans is critically thinking. And if critically thinking could be more important to more people, we might just be able to save this country now and forever.
- [33:38]
Andy Beshear
Let's close out with you see, and have a lot of people on. You see a lot of people who serve. You see a lot of candidates. What is it about one of any of those that actually gets you excited, that inspires you?
- [33:53]
Dean Withers
You know, I gotta say, I've mentioned his name four or five times in the interview so far. So clearly he's somebody that inspires me. Seeing young people so involved, so sharp, so on it, and pushing for the right things like people like Zohran Mandani in New York City. That really inspires me because that shows me, truly shows me just how capable so many young people can be. And it pushes me to push myself to do a little bit more tomorrow than I did the day before.
- [34:29]
Andy Beshear
Well, we are grateful that you would take a little bit of time for this podcast. There was a strong recommendation that we had to have you on by Leila Bashir, my daughter, who has taught us Gen Z lingo on this podcast before. So I've gotten to personally see how you reach out, how you educate, how you create that critical thinking. We're really grateful for the job that you do and thanks for being on.
- [34:57]
Dean Withers
Well, I appreciate you for having me on and thank you for your kind words and I hope you have a good rest of your day.
- [35:03]
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- [35:54]
Andy Beshear
And now on the Andy Beshear Podcast, my Conversation with the Johns. That's when I talk to attorney and small business owner John Rabinowitz and small business owner John McConnell and we break down all of the issues and things that are going on this week. It's about a conversation among friends, which is how we describe this podcast this week. I think we have to start with the war in Iran. While the administration is now not calling it a war, that's what Donald Trump called it when he launched the first strike. And it's gotten now very personal to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. We have lost two Kentuckians, Sergeant Benjamin Pennington of Glendale and Tech Sergeant Ashley Pruitt, Bardstown.
- [36:46]
John Rabinowitz
We want to honor them, obviously for their service to our country, without question.
- [36:50]
John McConnell
I'll tell you, this is pretty close to home to us. My wife taught at Central Hardin and sergeant Pennington's father, I think, was the coach of cross country there because I started getting Text messages right after the news was released from teachers there saying there couldn't be a better family in this world than the Pennington family. So it's so tragic. It just makes it so real that it's here. When you think about, like, Bardstown's 40 minutes away and Central Hardin's an hour away, it's just. It's unbelievable that we're seeing this over and over again and it's so close to home.
- [37:24]
Andy Beshear
I talked to his parents three or four days ago, and they were just talking about what an amazing young man he was, how he wanted to serve his country, how he embraced life, a life far too short. But it sounds like it was. It was really well lived.
- [37:41]
John McConnell
Yeah, I mean, both individuals, 20s and 30s and really just starting out their life and they're heroes. They gave, gave it all. But it's just so tragic.
- [37:54]
Andy Beshear
We're going to make sure that we honor them both. And I think we start off any of these conversations by saying we support our troops and noting the excellence of the American military. The idea that we can disagree with those making the decisions about this war while still supporting our armed forces. And I think we also all agree that the Iranian regime are bad guys. They'd murdered thousands, if not tens of thousands of people and supported terrorism. But I think there is a concern about what's the ultimate goal. There hasn't been a regime change, but what they've done is taken one ayatollah, killed him, and then now his son, bent on revenge, is the new leader of Iran. I'm not sure that makes us any safer.
- [38:44]
John Rabinowitz
No. And Wendy, look at lack of planning that's in place. Andy Trump has mentioned that he wants to make sure he can control the uranium that's there. But I mean, does uranium rhyme with oil? I have to wonder what is this really going to boil down to?
- [38:59]
Andy Beshear
Well, and the impact on oil right now is the opposite. You know, you have the strait there that Iran has now shut down. It may be laying to their enemies, maybe laying mines there, which would prevent anyone from coming through. The price of oil, price of gas is going up significantly here in the United States at a time when people already struggle to afford so much. This is on top of tariffs.
- [39:26]
John McConnell
Well, I would agree with you. There's certainly no immediate signs of de escalation. I have to think that our administration knew that what Iran would do in retaliation because they can't beat us in the war would be to affect the strait.
- [39:47]
Andy Beshear
But you don't see any of the planning that was needed to Preserve the strait. So today, when we're filming this on a Monday, President Trump has called on our allies to come help with it, but he didn't coordinate with them, didn't get their buy in ahead of the initial strike. The lack of planning throughout this about what is the justification? Because the grounds have shifted about four times. What does winning look like? Because regime change is probably not realistic. And then the idea of unconditional surrender. And when he says that, he then says, but we're killing everyone who could surrender. No time for our people to get out of the region. Not planning ahead of time for how to get them out. Just such a lack of planning when so many lives and costs on the American people are on the line.
- [40:40]
John Rabinowitz
Do you think we're going to see the backlash of just tariffs whenever he chooses to put them on? All these other countries now suddenly asking for them to come and help us with something that they didn't know we were going to start?
- [40:54]
John McConnell
What I'll be curious to see is if you're one of our allies, do you do it? There's no, listen, you want it to happen, but do you assist us? I would think you would ultimately, but you're not going to be happy about doing it.
- [41:07]
Andy Beshear
Do you want it to happen in this way? Because Pete Hegseth, who I think we all agree is a terribly unqualified Secretary of war, that every time he's front of. In front of a microphone, it sounds like he's hyping himself up or doing a wrestling promo, said something that was incredibly concerning and some have said is even a war crime in and of itself. He said that the United States would provide no quarter, no mercy, which is a statement that we will not take prisoners. It's a statement that says to other people that we would execute enemy combatants, which is not who the United States is. And how dangerous is that to be saying that, for that to be heard by the Iranians? And what happens if we have US Troops in the future in harm's way?
- [42:01]
John Rabinowitz
Yeah, they're going to feel that if there's no quarter given, then there's no reason for them to surrender, no matter what happens.
- [42:07]
John McConnell
There's been a lot of war of words throughout the last two weeks. Unfortunate use of words at times. Where I go, Andy, it's not much different than you. It's kind. You hear our president say, I'll feel it in my bones when it's the right time, when the war is over. Right.
- [42:27]
Andy Beshear
So that, I think, is their actual plan.
- [42:30]
John McConnell
It's.
- [42:30]
Andy Beshear
It's when the president feels it, then we have, we have completed the objective, which I guess is what the President feels.
- [42:37]
John McConnell
And is it a unit? Is a unilateral cease fire even going to work? Like, is Iran going to respect the fact when we say the war is over?
- [42:45]
Andy Beshear
I think, I think what will eventually happen is the pressure of prices, of not having a plan will get so significant that he'll say, well, we wiped out their missiles, we wiped out their navy, we wiped out their uranium, which he claims he did. The last time he used the word annihilation last time, he just used it again today.
- [43:08]
John McConnell
Sure.
- [43:09]
John Rabinowitz
Well, and we all have kids in high school, so we have spring break coming up. So you look across this entire country, you've already got people struggling with inflation, and now you look at what, what it takes to get through an airport with a partial shutdown, and you look at the price of gas. So how's that going to affect everyone in the entire country getting ready to try to plan a trip with their families?
- [43:29]
John McConnell
Well, listen, it's going to be brutal.
- [43:30]
Andy Beshear
A lot of them can't, right?
- [43:32]
John McConnell
I mean, you'll stay at home.
- [43:33]
Andy Beshear
And that's what prices and costs are doing. They're making people feel like they're failing. Because if you can't take your kids on that same beach vacation that your parents took, you want, if you can't buy a house in the same age or even within 10 years of when your parents did, don't you feel like you're failing?
- [43:54]
John McConnell
Well, speaking of affordability and pricing, our president came to Kentucky last week.
- [44:01]
John Rabinowitz
Keen, Keen, techy.
- [44:02]
John McConnell
I mean, you listen, was he making
- [44:04]
Andy Beshear
fun of us or No?
- [44:06]
John McConnell
I just think he said he likes to call it that. He knows how to pronounce it, but that was the way he liked to say it.
- [44:14]
Andy Beshear
Brand new construction jobs in Kentucky. Okay, Kentucky. I love the way a real Kentuckian pronounces it, but if I do it, I'll get.
- [44:27]
Dean Withers
But I love Kentucky.
- [44:29]
John McConnell
My guess, that's my interpretation.
- [44:31]
John Rabinowitz
He's a restaurant.
- [44:32]
John McConnell
I would say this, Andy. I would say this. Why weren't you there to introduce him?
- [44:39]
Andy Beshear
Because he had plenty of help. We had a legislative session going on. Yes, I will say I don't often give credit to the supermajority of my state legislature because they don't often earn it. But the vast majority of them, because that was a day that they were in session, stayed, even though the president was in town, they stayed and did their job in the middle of that. So the president calling our state Keen Tucky was something one late night host said he should know how it's pronounced. It's on every chicken bucket that he consumes. But he was here last Wednesday.
- [45:21]
John McConnell
Yes.
- [45:21]
Andy Beshear
We'd already lost. Benjamin Pennington didn't mention any of the losses and was about 100 miles. And again, I don't want to bring that individual down or their family into it. I just hope in the future when he, as commander in chief, travels to a state, say their name. Right. Honor them, make sure that our state sees you recognizing that sacrifice.
- [45:53]
John McConnell
And while he did talk about the economy, it seemed like the focus, the real focus was on can he get Massie out?
- [46:01]
John Rabinowitz
Yeah.
- [46:01]
John McConnell
So what are your thoughts on that?
- [46:02]
John Rabinowitz
Trump versus Massey.
- [46:03]
Andy Beshear
Is that what it turns out before I even get to that he spent more time on Jake Paul.
- [46:07]
John Rabinowitz
True.
- [46:08]
Andy Beshear
Than Iran.
- [46:09]
Dean Withers
Yeah.
- [46:09]
John McConnell
Yep.
- [46:10]
Andy Beshear
And we are at war with Iran.
- [46:12]
John McConnell
And Dr. Oz was there.
- [46:13]
Andy Beshear
Now, Dr. Oz apparently helped two people that had incidents really during that. So, you know, credit, credit there. But I gotta tell you, the Trump versus Massie and sometimes Rand Paul thing is certainly interesting for me in my job, it is very rare that I agree with Thomas Massie and Rand Paul, but apparently this is my give people credit day. They are principled inside of their beliefs. I believe many of their beliefs are destructive for the American people, sometimes the American economy. But they're some of the only people that won't be rolled over by Donald Trump.
- [46:56]
John McConnell
They have certainly have not changed their belief system, regardless of who's in power.
- [47:01]
Andy Beshear
I think this shows you where the national Republican Party is because Thomas Massie votes the way Trump wants 90 plus percent of the time. But that's not enough. He will come to your state, to your district to defeat you if it is not 100%, all the time, blind loyalty. And that's really concerning in a democracy.
- [47:23]
John Rabinowitz
They talk about traveling around the country. You recently were in New Hampshire, is that right?
- [47:27]
Andy Beshear
I was. Okay.
- [47:30]
John McConnell
You know, New Hampshire seems to be an important state for some reason, especially like 2028 would be a really interesting time to visit New Hampshire. You think, John?
- [47:39]
Andy Beshear
I think so. It was important. Heard about this for 2026. There's a guy named Chris Pappas who's running for the U.S. senate.
- [47:44]
John McConnell
He was on.
- [47:46]
Andy Beshear
We did 15 different events in two days. And I'm somehow still here, alive. Every single one of them was to benefit, say, the local Democratic Party, a couple different races. This was my second New Hampshire trip. This time I helped the Senate Democrats. Last time we'd helped the House Democrats. But it's a Great place. You know, I feel it's similar in some ways to Kentucky. It's known politically for the house parties. You show up to a house, there's 42 that we had 100 plus in most, and you got to be able to work that whole room. But that's. That's somewhat normal in Kentucky. And I found it to be a great reception. But I can tell you what they know. Their current events, they know what's going on. And you get peppered with every question that's out there. You got to be ready. From Iran to inflation to the national debt, you gotta be on your game. But I think that's fun, you know, having been a former lawyer, it's kind of the hot bench that you get when you're. When you're arguing in court.
- [48:56]
John McConnell
And you also. Did you speak at Dartmouth? Did I read?
- [48:58]
Andy Beshear
I did.
- [48:59]
John McConnell
How was that?
- [48:59]
Andy Beshear
Well, there were a lot of Kentucky students there. Oh, that's cool. Which was fun. The reason I did it is there were two young women from the Dartmouth College Democrats that drove two hours the last time I was in New Hampshire to come see me talk. And so when they gave the invitation, you know, yes, I wanted to go. We filled their auditorium where they do it. We filled part of an overflow room. I went into the overflow room before we started, because if somebody's gonna sit in a different room that I'm not even at, just to watch it, I wanted to go shake their hand.
- [49:30]
John McConnell
That's pretty awesome.
- [49:30]
Andy Beshear
Yeah, it was. But a good trip and hoping to inspire hope, have people not give up. Right now, with the news hitting you the way that it does, it's easy to get down, but I'd like to think there's a better world ahead of us.
- [49:45]
John McConnell
And also made a swing by Swing state.
- [49:48]
Andy Beshear
Michigan was in Michigan and going back because Gretchen Whitmer is having the last big Democratic dinner that's going to honor her service. Eight years of being a great governor.
- [50:03]
John McConnell
That's great. Well, listen, guys, we're in Kentucky. It's that time of year, the best time of year for March Madness. Now, our schools didn't get the seeds that we expected in the beginning of the year, but both are in it, thank goodness.
- [50:19]
John Rabinowitz
I'll give a shout out to the Murray State racer ladies.
- [50:21]
Andy Beshear
Yes.
- [50:21]
John Rabinowitz
Won the Missouri Valley championship.
- [50:24]
Andy Beshear
Second. Second straight year in the tournament.
- [50:26]
John Rabinowitz
Second straight year in a tournament. Yes. Regular season and the championship, Murray State,
- [50:30]
Andy Beshear
both College World Series. And this.
- [50:33]
John Rabinowitz
We keep getting it done in West Kentucky.
- [50:35]
John McConnell
I will tell you, it's a little disappointing on the way here, the two upset specials were both our Kentucky teams. Santa Clara upsetting Kentucky, which I just can't believe would happen, and then South Florida beating Louisville. So let's hope that does not happen. But their next games would be rough. Louisville play in Michigan State.
- [50:55]
Andy Beshear
I think either of those teams could get on a roll. Either, unfortunately, could drop a game. That's, that's parity right now in college basketball, I see with the exception of maybe the top seven teams, top five teams in the country, the ability for anybody to beat anybody on any given day. Obviously we've had some of the coaches.
- [51:17]
John McConnell
I was going to say, what about on the podcast in Arkansas?
- [51:22]
Andy Beshear
I think Coach Cal won the SEC tournament. Coach Pitino won their tournament as well. And so podcast represented well Pat Kelsey in this NCAA tournament. Three head coaches that have been on the podcast.
- [51:37]
John McConnell
You know, it'll be interesting to watch. Last year, I believe we had all four number one seeds in the Final Four. And it'll be, if that happens again this year, you have to look at is nil really affecting the game because all the players are going to the places that have the money to take on these top players.
- [51:58]
Andy Beshear
You see some other programs with significant dollars that it doesn't necessarily, I guess one Collection State. Yeah, it's that challenge of putting together a new team seemingly every year. It does seem like some of the top programs, though, are keeping some of their players two or three years.
- [52:16]
John McConnell
So, John, that being said, besides Murray State on the women's side, I don't know how Anybody can beat UConn, though. Who's your pick this year for the men's side? Do you have one?
- [52:26]
John Rabinowitz
I mean, we know how much I follow sports, right?
- [52:28]
John McConnell
I mean, just pick a state.
- [52:29]
John Rabinowitz
Just pick a state. So I feel like I should go Kentucky.
- [52:35]
John McConnell
Oh, there we go.
- [52:36]
Dean Withers
Yeah, why not?
- [52:37]
Andy Beshear
So being governor, there's no way I'm going to answer this question directly. What I see is all of our Kentucky teams advancing and Duke going down in the first round.
- [52:46]
John Rabinowitz
There we go.
- [52:47]
John McConnell
Listen, Florida and Duke look awful tough, even though Florida did lose to Vandy. But go Cards.
- [52:59]
Andy Beshear
This week we have a special Ask Andy where as promised, I answer a question from one of our listeners. This one came in as a comment on our YouTube page. Remember, you can subscribe to us on our YouTube page at Andy Beshear podcast. And if you do and leave a question, we may pick it to respond this week. The question is can you please do an episode explaining why Trump has not yet been impeached? Seriously, asking appreciate the question as you know, in his first term, Donald Trump was impeached by the House, but the Senate did not vote to convict. If it had, Mitch McConnell really being the key, Donald Trump would not be in his second term and we would not be facing so many things that we are. The reason that he hasn't been impeached in this second term is we have a lot of people in Congress that just aren't doing their job at all. They're letting him go unchecked. They're not standing up for their branch of government. They're allowing him to illegally withhold funds. Now, I've sued and gotten those funds flowing to Kentucky, but red states are seeing funds that were appropriated by Congress not come to them, and their citizens are losing that benefit. People should be watching, horrified about the actions of ice, the fact that there is an American body count, the fact that we are not treating children of God with any level of humanity, the fact that this president went to war without talking to the American people or convincing Congress. So the reason that he has not been impeached is that we have a Congress that simply won't do its job as a separate branch of government,
- [54:55]
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