Matt Bevin and Andy Beshear bicker, battle and belittle during KET debate
In the closing weeks of the 2019 campaign, Gov. Matt Bevin has focused on his strengths, talking about his relationship with President Donald Trump and how his stances on social issues align more closely with Kentuckians than his opponent, Attorney General Andy Beshear.
But those issues weren’t the focus of the fourth debate between the two men vying to become Kentucky’s next governor on Kentucky Educational Television Monday night.
Instead, host Renee Shaw attempted to focus the debate directly on policy issues, digging deep into the talking points the two candidates have been making for months.
She immediately put the Republican governor on the defensive about the issue that has single-handily crushed his popularity in this conservative-leaning state: the controversial comments he’s made about people who oppose his political efforts.
“Do you believe you owe teachers an apology?” Shaw asked Bevin.
Bevin did not apologize.
He talked about money the Republican-led legislature has put toward public education, then said his comments were not about teachers, but about the Kentucky Education Association, a teacher group that has battled the Bevin Administration as it tried to make changes to their retirement system.
“They weren’t said about teachers,” Bevin said. “They were about people protesting businesses and other things of that sort.”
It became a recurring theme. Several times throughout the debate, Beshear brought up Bevin’s remarks about teachers. Bevin would counter by saying Beshear has never created jobs.
Bevin’s defense gave Beshear an opening to bring up an issue that has festered since Saturday, when Bevin said in a debate in Louisville that he never said people committed suicide on a casino floor.
Bevin nitpicked, arguing that Beshear said “casino floor” instead of “casino,” but doubled down on the sentiment, at one point claiming that such suicides happen every other night in the city of Las Vegas.
A 2004 CBS news report said visitors in Las Vegas commit suicides more than once a month. Nevada was tied for the 10th highest suicide rate in the country in 2019, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal.
“Where did we get off on this topic?” Bevin eventually asked. “Do you not believe that people take their life because of addiction?”
It wasn’t always Bevin on his heels. Much of the night was spent talking about the economy and how Kentucky could generate more revenue to pay for state services. Beshear fell back on the solutions he’s campaigned on: taxing medicinal marijuana, expanded gambling and closing unidentified tax loopholes.
Both Shaw and Bevin pointed out that it would be an enormous political challenge for Beshear, a Democrat, to get those proposals through the Republican-led legislature. Shaw also pointed out that Beshear’s estimate for how much revenue expanded gambling would generate for the state is much higher than the legislature’s estimate.
“I would love to promise all sorts of things...” Bevin said. “But the reality is you have to be able to pay for things.”
The night often devolved into bickering between two men who genuinely don’t like each other.
They fought over the usual things. Bevin hit Beshear on abortion. Beshear hit Bevin on health care. Bevin hit Beshear on the fact his children attend private school. Beshear hit Bevin for refusing to release his tax returns.
Several times throughout the night, Bevin attempted to bring the argument back to his claim that he grew up in poverty, painting Beshear as a privileged politician’s kid.
“You’re the Hunter Biden of Kentucky,” Bevin said, referencing former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, saying Beshear had everything given to him.
Beshear countered that Bevin’s personality is incompatible with the job of governor.
“Just because someone disagrees with you doesn’t make them your enemy,” Beshear said. “You can’t insult somebody and then ask them to sit down at the table and get something done.”
This story was originally published October 28, 2019 at 9:47 PM.
