What's happening it the WV senate race?
What have the two major Republican senatorial candidates been doing lately?
Mostly defending Donald Trump
Yesterday, the Durham Report was issued. Here is what the Associated Press concluded:
BREAKING: A special prosecutor has ended his four-year investigation into possible FBI misconduct in its probe of ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. The report fell short of Trump’s prediction he would uncover the “crime of the century.” https://t.co/sOm17yjHPJ
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 15, 2023
(Page 16 of today’s Wheeling Intelligencer carried the first two-thirds of the AP report.)
However, our Republican senatorial candidates apparently read a different report.
Alex Mooney:
The Durham report officially proves it: @realDonaldTrump was the target of the biggest witch hunt in US history! I am proud to have crashed Adam Schiff’s star chamber and voted against both absurd Trump impeachments. #MAGA #wvpol
— Alex Mooney (@MooneyforWV) May 16, 2023
Jim Justice:
The Durham report shows the abuse of power and a dual system of justice at the highest levels of government against President Donald J. Trump.
— Jim Justice (@JimJusticeWV) May 16, 2023
The Trump-Russia hoax is one of the biggest lies ever perpetrated on the American people by those in power. https://t.co/anaeZS0tBA
The two major Republican candidates are clearly shilling for Trump but it probably doesn't matter -- I doubt that the issue matters much to WV's Trump Party. Just in case, Fox News apparently spent most of last evening arguing that it will be the "third smoking gun in the dead body that is the trust in the United States institutions."
Attacks?
Mooney continue his:
.@JimJusticeWV is a liberal and supports Biden’s trillion-dollar socialist wishlist.
— Alex Mooney (@MooneyforWV) May 12, 2023
Alex Mooney will lower your taxes and put an end to the non-stop spending in Washington!
Does anybody really think Justice is a liberal? Is this all that Mooney has?
Justice, on the other hand, has chosen to ignore his opponent -- probably because he sees himself as the front runner. Instead of responding to Mooney, Justice goes after the Biden administration. In this case, its border policy:
Our southern border is being overrun, and West Virginia is now a border state. Border security is national security, and as our Senator securing the border will be my top priority. pic.twitter.com/24FmZL6Z4H
— Jim Justice (@JimJusticeWV) May 11, 2023
And what has Senator Joe been doing lately?
Like Mooney and Justice, Democrat Manchin is opposing the Biden administration:
Sen. Joe Manchin (https://t.co/NBYtXBiMnr.) received $768,859 from the oil and gas industry, making him the top recipient during the 2022 election cycle.
— OpenSecrets.org (@OpenSecretsDC) May 12, 2023
Now, he vows to oppose every one of President Joe Biden’s nominees for the EPA. 🧵1/https://t.co/mfJoBa8TJh
Should we follow the money?
3/ “This Administration is determined to advance its radical climate agenda and has made it clear they are hellbent on doing everything in their power to regulate coal and gas-fueled power plants out of existence,” Manchin wrote in a statement released Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/QLa0ASHVX5
— OpenSecrets.org (@OpenSecretsDC) May 12, 2023
Additionally, it appears that Senator Joe takes it very personally that some of his Republicans colleagues want to see him lose:
Asked Sen. Joe Manchin about Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell's comments that top Rs would go "all out" to elect Jim Justice to his seat.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 9, 2023
"This is what's wrong with this place, okay, and I have said this. I have never ever campaigned against a sitting colleague," Manchin said.
(It's politics, Joe.)
And breaking, as I am about to publish:
The Biden administration has granted a crucial permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a project championed by Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, despite opposition from climate experts and environmental groups. https://t.co/QR7jXLFN04
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 16, 2023
As folk singer Phil Ochs used to say: “Thank God for coincidence.”
Update -- it's "the biggest story maybe in the history of our country"
Trump on Newsmax says the Durham report is "the biggest story maybe in the history of our country. Crime of the century." 😆 pic.twitter.com/pu8DEodQOz
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 16, 2023
