President Donald Trump spoke out against Republican Senate primary candidate Don Blankenship in West Virginia, urging Republicans to vote for either of the two other Republican candidates.
“To the great people of West Virginia we have, together, a really great chance to keep making a big difference,” Trump wrote. “Problem is, Don Blankenship, currently running for Senate, can’t win the General Election in your State…No way!”
Trump commented on the race on Twitter on Monday morning, reacting to the news that support for Blankenship was surging ahead of Tuesday’s primary election.
Rep. Evan Jenkins and West Virginian Attorney General Patrick Morrisey have spent most of their campaign battling between each other, as few Republicans in the state thought that Blankenship could win.
A former coal executive, Blankenship was jailed for violating federal mine safety standards after 29 miners were killed in his Upper Big Branch mine in 2014.
He has spent his campaign trashing Senate Majority Mitch McConnell as a “Swamp captain” in Washington, DC and “Cocaine Mitch.” His politically incorrect style has earned the support of many Trump supporting Republicans in West Virginia.
But Trump urged voters to choose a different candidate, one that could win the general election
“Remember Alabama,” he wrote, recalling Roy Moore’s loss in the Alabama Senate race. “Vote Rep. Jenkins or A.G. Morrisey!”