West Virginia’s Governor sparks outrage after laughing that Obama isn’t welcome in his state

June 3, 2020

The Republican Party has no interest in actually governing. The wealthy donors propping up the GOP foisted Trump onto us so that they could pilfer the federal treasury and ram through massive tax cuts for themselves, completely apathetic to the self-evident fact that he is uniquely unsuited for government office.

Led by this incompetent reality TV star, Republicans sat back idly as COVID-19 ripped through the American populace, a staggering dereliction of duty that worsens by the day as the number of infected and dead climbs.

At the same time, the Trump administration has been proven staggeringly incapable of dealing with the nationwide protests springing up against police brutality right now. Rather than defusing the situation and listening to the demonstrator’s demands, the White House is pushing state and local officials to get tougher and to “dominate” the streets, even if it means deploying tear gas and rubber bullets against peaceful Americans. It seems the only thing this president knows how to do is make things worse for all of us.

Add your name to tell states and police to reject Trump’s calls to use violence against peaceful protestors!

Despite his colossal failings, much of the GOP is remaining in lockstep with Trump. Governor Jim Justice (R-WV) stirred up controversy today after a phone call with the president. He stated that Trump is always welcome in his state before taking a jab at the president’s predecessor.

“I wanted him to know just how welcome he is in West Virginia. And any president, you know, we should absolutely welcome all but — you know, maybe not Barack Obama. Nevertheless, we’ll welcome any president,” said Justice.

At a time where the country is acutely aware of racial injustices and the topic of unfair treatment towards Black Americans is dominating the news, it’s difficult to interpret Justice’s comments as anything but a racist dogwhistle aimed at the bigoted voting bloc of the Republican Party. And even if he wasn’t trying to be racist—a dubious prospect at best—this kind of partisan mudslinging does nothing but divide West Virginia at a time when it needs to unify.

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WV Gov. Jim Justice during Wednesday’s press briefing:

“I want [Trump] to always know just how welcome he is in West Virginia. And any president, we should absolutely welcome all but, you know … maybe not Barack Obama. But nevertheless, we'll welcome any president." pic.twitter.com/e4Fjhktb0s

— Douglas Soule (@DouglasSoule) June 3, 2020

While the governor later claimed that his statement that the first Black president is the only president not welcome in West Virginia was because of Obama policies that he claims hurt the coal industries, people were understandably outraged.

So basically @WVGovernor Jim Justice is saying West Virginia welcomes all presidents except the first Black one @BarackObama. We see you, Jim. https://t.co/Fv1kl8hPJH

— rolandsmartin (@rolandsmartin) June 3, 2020

https://twitter.com/CrushStevens/status/1268216106910703616?s=20

I see Jim Justice is back on his bullshit.
This isn’t even politics. This is basic human decency.
In a time when our community is fractured and hurting, @WVGovernor is intent on further dividing. https://t.co/U6H15SRovP

— Fake Bob Huggins (@FakeBobHuggins) June 3, 2020

At a time when West Virginians are looking for unity and leadership, yet again, Jim Justice demonstrated that he's out of touch. Whether it's calling student athletes thugs or singling out the first African-American president, one thing is clear: we need new leadership.

— Ben Salango (@BenSalango) June 3, 2020