FRANKFORT, Ky. (WDRB) -- Amid national speculation that Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is being vetted as a running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris, Beshear got emotional during his weekly news conference Thursday in Frankfort as he envisioned a world in which he moved his family to Washington.

Beshear kept his remarks short and sweet from the Capitol, opting to read a statement on the VP rumors.  

"I am honored to be considered," he said. "Regardless of what comes next, I'll do everything I can between now and Election Day to elect Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States of America."

Harris is beginning to vet about a dozen possible candidates to be her running mate as she approaches one of the most consequential decisions of her new presidential candidacy. Her goal, according to people with knowledge of the matter, is to keep the process drama-free as she and Democrats try to project confidence after an extraordinarily tumultuous few weeks for the party.

"What's needed right now is a ticket that can not only win but can govern and govern in a way that is for everyone," Beshear said Thursday.

When asked if he is being vetted, he referred to his pre-approved statement.

"What I can do is give the same statement that I started out with. That is the statement I am authorized to give at this point," he said.

Much of the political conversation has centered on four names: Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Beshear.

President Joe Biden announced Sunday he resigned his candidacy and endorsed Harris shortly thereafter. Following the announcement, Harris' team called Beshear for his endorsement.

And by Monday, Beshear was on the offensive, appearing on both MSNBC and CNN to go after Sen. JD Vance, R-OH, who was recently named former President Donald Trump's running mate.

"We need folks that have substance we need folks that are up for the job," Beshear said Thursday. "And JD Vance certainly isn't and never will be."

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.

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.

"What I said about JD Vance isn't because of anything that is rumored about me or any role he has stepped into. It is because he has exploited and attempted to attack my fellow Kentuckians, and it is my job to stand up when that happens," Beshear said Thursday. "To make money off of that claim and then to call our people names is just not acceptable. If anybody else had done it, I'd be speaking up too."

In Frankfort on Thursday, Beshear said he still currently plans to carry out his second term as Kentucky governor.

"The only way that I would consider accepting anything else is if I believe I can help this state and this country more in a different way," he said.

When asked what his son and daughter, Lila and Will, think about their father being considered as a vice presidential contender, he said he feels blessed.

"Will is 15. Lila is 14. That means the amount I get to talk to them is a little bit different than it was years ago. My family has always been my rock. They have always been incredibly supportive. I wouldn't read a statement saying it is an honor to be considered if they weren't behind me with whatever comes," he said. "Now, anything that comes, I am going to sit down and talk to them. They are the most important parts of my life. I would do anything for their happiness and I am really blessed as a dad ... I am becoming my dad. He always tears up when talking about family."

Experts expect Harris to announce a running mate sometime in the next two weeks.

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Copyright 2024 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.