President Trump weighed in on the West Virginia Senate race on Monday ahead of this week’s Republican primary.
“To the great people of West Virginia we have, together, a really great chance to keep making a big difference. Problem is, Don Blankenship, currently running for Senate, can’t win the General Election in your State…No way! Remember Alabama. Vote Rep. Jenkins or A.G. Morrisey!” Mr. Trump tweeted.
Mr. Blankenship, a businessman, is considered the outsider candidate with personal baggage and a tendency to attract controversy. In the primary debate last week, he referred to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as “cocaine Mitch,” tying him to a report about drugs found on a ship operated by his wife’s family. Mr. Blankenship has also referred to Mr. McConnell’s wife and in-laws as “Chinapeople” since Elaine Chao, Mr. McConnell’s wife, was born in Taiwan and her father is from China. Mr. Blankenship also served a year in prison for a case related to a mine explosion in 2010.
The main race is slated to be between Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and Rep. Evan Jenkins. Both have raised over $1 million in the primary race, and the minimal polling available shows Mr. Jenkins leading by 4 points. The winner will challenge incumbent Sen. Joe Manchin, West Virginia Democrat, in a race Republicans are hoping to flip due to Mr. Trump’s steady popularity.
Mr. Morrisey’s campaign tried to use Mr. Trump’s tweet in an early morning email blast to supporters alleging that the president urged voters to support him, despite the fact that the tweet did not give a preference to either Mr. Morrisey or Mr. Jenkins.
Mr. Jenkins campaign said that a victory for Mr. Morrisey means the state could see a third-party challenge from Mr. Blankenship, dividing support among Republicans and potentially costing them the race.
“It is critical we have a nominee who can bring Republicans together after this primary to beat Joe Manchin,” Mr. Jenkins said in a statement. “The stakes are too high to go into the general election divided.
In response to the president’s tweet, Mr. Blankenship claimed to be “Trumpier than Trump” and said that no one, including Mr. Trump, can tell West Virginia Republicans how to vote.
“The president is a very busy man, and he doesn’t know me, and he doesn’t know how flawed my two main opponents are in this primary. The establishment is misinforming him because they do not want me to be in the U.S. Senate and promote the president’s agenda,” he said in a statement Monday morning.
“Tomorrow, West Virginia will send the swamp a message — no one, and I mean no one, will tell us how to vote,” he continued. “As some have said, I am Trumpier than Trump, and this morning proves it.”
To the great people of West Virginia we have, together, a really great chance to keep making a big difference. Problem is, Don Blankenship, currently running for Senate, can’t win the General Election in your State…No way! Remember Alabama. Vote Rep. Jenkins or A.G. Morrisey!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 7, 2018
• Ben Wolfgang contributed to this article.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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