Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear defended his veto of a transgender athletes ban, saying his party doesn't "throw anybody under the bus."
Page S3From§Eachthe early bird edition — 27 September 2026
Party that insists it doesn't throw anybody under the bus spent the week disowning its girls' sports reversal.
As it ran on the front
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear vetoed his state's transgender athletes ban and told the RNC piling on him that his party never throws — doesn't, rather, throw anybody under the bus. Never is my word, not his; the governor's is the more careful one, and on the specific fact of his own veto, it holds. He kept it. That much of the defense is not in dispute.
The rest of the sentence has a calendar problem, and the calendar starts in Texas. On September 9th, Paxton, still sitting as attorney general, put his name on a release handing out more than 7 million eggs from a legal settlement. The next poll, September 10th, had Talarico four points up. That same day, Talarico told The Hill he opposes transgender athletes in girls' sports "if it endangers safety or fairness" — a Democrat closing a Senate race, finding his own qualifier.…
…(cont) Twelve days later, on September 22nd, the Washington Examiner reported the qualifier wasn't his alone. Democratic House candidates nationwide were telling voters on TV screens that they agreed with Republicans on keeping transgender athletes out of girls' sports and giving parents more control — the same candidates whose votes, cast as state or local legislators, said otherwise. The reporting didn't call it a reversal. It ran the voting records next to the ads and let the two disagree.
So the defense I'd like to make — that this is one governor, one veto, one honest sentence — doesn't survive contact with September 22nd. It isn't that Beshear misspoke about Kentucky. It's that the bus he says his party doesn't drive was already moving, five days before he reached the podium, with his own candidates at the wheel in states he doesn't govern.
The rider is a Minnesota softball player who wrote about losing her state championship semifinal to a team fielding a transgender pitcher, and about refusing to lose her voice next. She isn't on any ballot. She doesn't get a TV ad or a veto with her name on it. She gets the outcome the qualifiers exist to manage, and the sentence built to cover it — his party doesn't throw anybody under the bus — was true right up until the record was checked.
“A governor vetoes the bill, then goes on television using the exact phrase his own party's candidates are quietly disproving with their voting records — that's not a contradiction, that's the whole strategy: say the humane thing in Kentucky, run the cruel ad in Ohio, and let nobody read both papers. The kid who actually loses the semifinal doesn't get a press conference; she gets an op-ed she had to write herself.”
“Look, the governor vetoed a bill and defended it in plain English — that's called having a spine, and if his own party's House candidates in other states are running different ads, that's called federalism, not — okay, that's not what federalism means, that's just candidates saying different things to different voters, which, fine, is also not great, but it's not the same as what he did, which was the veto, which he kept.”
Earlier in this story
- Kansas Republicans tout their 94-year streak, then warn reporters a 'perfect storm' could end it. By Sal · the matinee edition, 27 September 2026
- Republicans spend $100 million and 7 million eggs, then watch Paxton's deficit grow from 3 to 5. By Ruth · the matinee edition, 27 September 2026
- Party that kept Jesus out of its ads for decades now runs pastors asking whether he was woke By Sal · the coffee break edition, 27 September 2026
- $100 million and 7 million eggs later, Paxton is down five points, exactly where he started By Ruth · the coffee break edition, 27 September 2026
- Fetterman won't rule out being the deciding vote for either party, months after starring in their convention ad. By Lou · the sunrise edition, 27 September 2026
- Republicans spend $100 million and 7 million eggs rescuing Paxton, get nothing back in the polls By Ruth · the sunrise edition, 27 September 2026
The receipts
Democratic House candidates are telling voters on TV screens that they support “common-sense rules” for keeping transgender student athletes out of girls’ sports and giving greater control to parents, even going so far as to say they agree with Republicans on the hot-button cultural issue. But their voting records from their time as…
A Minnesota softball player describes losing her state championship semifinal to a team with a transgender pitcher and her fight for female athletes.
· Talarico opposes trans athletes in girls sports 'if it endangers safety or fairness' from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.