Manchin gets his reward for cozying to Trump
From CNBC:
President Donald Trump quickly turned a tax reform event in West Virginia into a broad political venting session Thursday, including repeated swipes at the state's vulnerable Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.
Flanked by Rep. Evan Jenkins, R-W.V., and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey — candidates in the Republican Senate primary — he slammed Manchin for opposing Republican plans to overhaul the tax code and repeal the Affordable Care Act. Trump added: "And he does other things that I don't like, I'll be honest with you."
On the contested Republican primary
Also from CNBC:
Trump's event also made for a subtle jab at the race's other candidate, coal baron and ex-convict Don Blankenship, whom some in the pro-Trump state believe could prove too contentious to win a general election. He declined to state a preference for either Jenkins or Morrisey, however, and told voters to "go out and vote" in the May 8 primary election.
Trump also claimed epidemic rape by migrants
From the Washington Post:
President Trump has returned to the controversial — and unproven — claim that arguably launched his 2016 campaign, accusing migrants headed for the United States of epidemic rape and the countries they come from of sending criminals.
On Thursday in West Virginia, Trump addressed the so-called migrant “caravan” that he has been tweeting and warning about for days.
“They're not putting their good ones,” Trump said. “And remember my opening remarks at Trump Tower when I opened. Everybody said, 'Oh, he was so tough.' And I used the word 'rape.' And yesterday it came out where, this journey coming up, women are raped at levels that nobody has ever seen before. They don't want to mention that.”
As the Post noted:
As with Trump's claim in June 2015, there is almost no actual evidence on which to base this claim.
Trump’s approval rating drops nationwide but is up in West Virginia
Morning Consult does a monthly poll of Trump’s approval rating on a state-by-state basis. Their figures for March were released earlier today.
Nationwide – Trump hit a new low in their poll:
The new data — compiled from surveys conducted March 1 to March 31 among 97,693 registered voters in every state and Washington, D.C. — shows 41 percent of registered voters approving and 54 percent disapproving of Trump’s job performance, surpassing previous monthly lows from October and November, when 42 percent approved and 53 percent took the opposing view.
One of the exceptions is West Virginia:
On the positive side, Trump made a 6 point gain in New Hampshire and improved his standing in West Virginia and Vermont by 4 points.
