It’s official: the West Virginia Republican Party is no more as its last member has surrendered to the Trump Party
One day after a $83.3 judgement is rendered against Donald Trump for his defamations following his sexual assault trial, WV senator Shelley Moore Capito endorses him for President. Yesterday:
We have a chance to return to this in less than a year under President Trump.
— Capito for WV (@CapitoforWV) January 27, 2024
West Virginians overwhelmingly support President Trump, and so do I.
Our best days are yet to come. Let's reach them together. https://t.co/leseU7njdH
And so, we can finally stick a fork in the West Virginia Republican Party; its last holdout has finally gone over to the Trump side. For all of 2023, Shelley Moore Capito, unlike the rest of what used to be called West Virginia Republicans, had said nothing in defense of Donald Trump. I’ve assumed that her silence signified either that she was appalled by his actions and/or that she was not planning to run for reelection in 2026. In either case, Capito remained silent rather than invite the wrath of the Trump sycophants for not being sufficiently solicitous of him.
I was wrong and her endorsement may mean she will run for reelection in 2026. Additionally, Shelley's ongoing lack of support for Trump would have been a drag on her son’s campaign for governor in a primary in which the only issue appears to be which candidate can demonstrate that they are the most pro-Trump. For instance:
It’s a two-way race for Governor. My opponent is bought and paid for by the shadiest members of Never Trump Inc. He is a former drug lobbyist who is now running to be their lobbyist puppet as Governor.
— Moore Capito (@MooreCapitoWV) January 26, 2024
I am running to be your voice. Every dollar you donate helps us beat these… pic.twitter.com/L97M9xBrFJ
A final note. I discovered Shelley’s decision to endorse Trump early yesterday afternoon but did not immediately publish it because I was not completely sure that the account that it came from was legitimate. (The account publishes infrequently, has relatively few followers, and seems out-of-step with Capito’s 2023 posture towards Trump.) Yes, upon closer inspection, it now appears genuine. In the future, I hope that I will remember that Shelley, Riley and Moore Capito are all descendants of Arch Moore. (They get their duplicity honestly.)
