LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday he spoke with Vice President Kamala Harris soon after she became the prohibitive favorite to lead the Democratic ticket and said his state's progress "should be a model for the country" as speculation swirled around whether he's in the running to join the slate.

"That meant a lot to me, to reach out to me personally and ask for my support," Beshear said. "I pledged my support to her. The rest of that conversation I said would stay between us. We have a trust in where we're able to exchange ideas and give advice."

Beshear appeared on MSNBC on Monday morning, praising Harris' resume as a former prosecutor and said she's ready to assume the presidency. On Morning Joe, Beshear said he's willing to do everything he can to support her.

"The vice president is smart and strong, which will make her a good president," Beshear said. "But she's also kind and has empathy, which can make her a great president."

Asked by host Willie Geist if he's open to potentially joining the ticket, Beshear said he loves his job as governor.

"I love serving the people of Kentucky," he said. "The only way I would consider something other than this current job is if I believed I could further help my people and help this country. I also think — whether I'm asked for that or not — that it's important to be out there contrasting the vice president and those that she's running against. I believe her record is one of standing up for people and fighting for the American people."

Beshear took a more aggressive tone in criticizing Republican Donald Trump's four years in the Oval Office. The second-term governor said his fellow Democrats should focus on everyday concerns of Americans and he blistered Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, R-OH, for the way he has portrayed Kentucky and the region.

Long before he was a U.S. senator, Vance rose to prominence on the wings of "Hillbilly Elegy," a bestselling memoir that many thought captured the essence of Trump's political resonance in a rural white America ravaged by joblessness, opioid addiction and poverty. Many Appalachian scholars thought the 2016 book trafficked in stereotypes and blamed working-class people for their own struggles without giving enough weight to decades of exploitation by coal and pharmaceutical companies that figure prominently in Appalachia's story.

Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks during a campaign event 3-26-2024

Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks during a campaign event with President Joe Biden in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, March 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Vance was raised by his grandparents in Middletown, which is not in Appalachia, but spent a significant amount of time traveling to Kentucky with his grandparents to visit family. The senator has said he hopes to be buried in a small mountain cemetery there. 

"He ain't from here," Beshear told the Associated Press on Monday. "... You don't get to just come in eastern Kentucky a couple of times in the summer and then maybe for weddings and a funeral and cast judgment on us. It's offensive."

The governor took issue with Vance's portrayals in his book of people in Kentucky and eastern Kentucky and suggestions that they were lazy or not motivated to work.

 "You don't get to just come in eastern Kentucky a couple of times in the summer and then maybe for weddings and a funeral and cast judgment on us. It's offensive."

'Model for the country'

On Sunday, President Joe Biden's decision ended his reelection bid following a disastrous debate with Trump that raised doubts about his fitness for office just four months before the election. Making three stops in Kentucky touting local tourism Monday, Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY, said he and his colleagues are left worried about the next five months of a Biden presidency.

"If he's not competent to run for election, is he incompetent to lead the country?" Paul said Monday in Brandenburg. "I think there is a real question. And there's worry from a lot of us who, frankly, are just worried about having a president who may not be able to make immediate decisions, maybe someone else who's not elected — his wife or his chief of staff — are they making the day-to-day decisions? That worries me. And also, I think that worry is that something could come up where foreign counties could see an advantage and decide to provoke us when we're not sure what his response would be."

Biden endorsed Harris on Sunday to take on Trump and encouraged his party to united behind her. Several prominent Democrats have followed Biden in endorsing Harris, the nation's first female vice president and the first person of color to hold that office. A graduate of Howard University, she also is the first person from a historically Black college or university to hold the office of either president or vice president.

In choosing Harris as his running mate in 2020, Biden called her a "fearless fighter for the little guy." She has not wavered as his vice-presidential nominee and has become more visible campaigning for the Biden-Harris ticket in recent weeks.

"President Biden will be remembered as a consequential president," Beshear said in a written statement Sunday afternoon. "Along with Vice President Harris, he led us through the aftermath of the January 6th attack on our Capitol and steadily steered us out of a global pandemic. ..."

Beshear defeated Trump-endorsed Republicans to win the governorship in 2019 and to win reelection last year in his Republican-leaning state. He supports abortion rights, but, in Kentucky, has tailored his message to push back against what he calls an extreme ban that lacks exceptions for rape and incest victims.

The governor won widespread praise for his empathy and attention to detail in guiding the Bluegrass State through the COVID-19 pandemic and leading the response to tornadoes and flooding that caused massive damage. He honed his speaking skills by holding regular news conferences that often last an hour or so.

"I certainly think what we've done here in Kentucky is something that should be a model for the country," Beshear said Monday. "Not just in winning but in governing. How at a time when the country is at a boiling point, with neighbors yelling at neighbors, we've turned down the temperature here."

Paul said he doesn't support Beshear but would be happy to see someone new in the Governor's Mansion in Frankfort.

Sen. Rand Paul

Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY, speaking to reporters during a stop in Brandenburg, Kentucky. July 22, 2024. (WDRB Photo)

"I'm not a big fan of Governor Beshear," he said. "During the COVID overreaction, the idea that he would try to police our churches, police our restaurants or police our hotels, there was no science behind any of that. But there was a casual disregard for our religious freedom and our individual liberty. So I've never been a fan of him because of his reaction on COVID."

Beshear has presided over record-setting economic growth in Kentucky and he typically begins his briefings by touting the state's latest economic wins. He frequently mentions his Christian faith and how it guides his policymaking.

An attorney by trade, Beshear won election as state attorney general in 2015. He then unseated Trump-backed Republican incumbent Matt Bevin to first win the governorship in 2019.

Beshear entered politics with a strong pedigree as the son of former two-term Gov. Steve Beshear, but the son has faced tougher political obstacles. Andy Beshear, unlike his dad, has dealt with an entirely GOP-controlled Legislature and Republican lawmakers have stymied some of his priorities. One of them is state-funded preschool for every Kentucky 4-year-old.

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