Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, on Tuesday accused Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, of wishing "a member of my family would get raped."
It stemmed from Beshear's appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," when he referenced comments Vance had made during his 2021 Senate run.
At the time, Vance said: "It's not whether a woman should be forced to bring a child to term," but "whether a child should be allowed to live even though the circumstances of that child's birth are somehow inconvenient or a problem to society."
During Beshear's appearance on MSNBC, he went after Vance, who is the running mate with Donald Trump on the 2024 Republican presidential ticket.
"J.D. Vance calls pregnancy resulting from rape 'inconvenient.' Inconvenience is traffic. ... Make him go through this," Beshear said.
In response, Vance reposted a clip of Beshear's comments on X, saying, "What the hell is this? Why is @AndyBeshearKY wishing that a member of my family would get raped?!? What a disgusting person."
Vance's communications director, William Martin, also issued a statement: "His comments are disgusting, vile, and should not be tolerated in American politics. We call on Kamala Harris to immediately repudiate Governor Beshear's comments and demonstrate that regardless of partisan disagreements, this kind of violent rhetoric has no place in our public discourse."
Beshear later walked back his remarks, saying "of course" he was not wishing harm on Vance's family.
"It's ridiculous, but it's also deflection," Beshear said. "J.D. Vance knows that he and Donald Trump are so wrong on this issue, and so he's trying to make himself the victim.
"As a man, J.D. Vance will never have to face any of this personally, but it's sad that he lacks the empathy to be able to put himself in a different position and to understand why having exceptions, having reproductive freedom, is so important in the first place."
Vance later responded.
"I never once called rape inconvenient," he told reporters. "It's a total fiction of the Democratic National Committee. I never said it. I never said anything like it. What I was talking about was the context of an unexpected pregnancy, not one caused by rape.
"Of course, rape is a terrible, terrible tragedy and a terrible, terrible thing. I never said what the Democratic Party accused me of saying."
Kate McManus ✉
Kate McManus is a New Jersey-based Newsmax writer who's spent more than two decades as a journalist.
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