Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel suggested Tuesday she would support former coal CEO Don Blankenship if he wins the Republican senatorial primary in West Virginia.
Appearing on Fox News, McDaniel was asked whether she would prefer Blankenship to Democratic incumbent Sen. Joe Manchin if he defeats Republican primary opponents Rep. Evan Jenkins and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey on Tuesday.
“Yeah, I’m going to support people who are going to support the president’s agenda,” she said. “Joe Manchin talks a good game, but when it comes down to those important votes, he voted no for higher wages, for more jobs, for a better economy. He has voted no against his state time and time again. I say he’s a nice guy, have him over for a barbecue, but don’t send him back to the Senate.”
Blankenship is a former coal CEO who spent a year in federal prison for his role in a 2010 mine explosion that left 29 dead.
On Monday, President Trump weighed in on the Republican primary in West Virginia and urged voters there to reject Blankenship’s candidacy, citing the GOP’s loss in the Alabama special Senate election in December when Democrat Doug Jones defeated Republican Roy Moore.
McDaniel said the Republicans need members of the Senate who are going to work with Trump and said Manchin has proven that he will buck aspects of the president’s agenda.
“We’re going to support Republican nominees that are going to further the president’s agenda,” she said. “We know Joe Manchin’s not going to do that, because he voted against the tax cuts, and we know that if Democrats took the majority in the Senate, he would vote for Chuck Schumer to be the leader. So we’re going to be supporting those Republican nominees.”
But McDaniel said she wants West Virginians to have a chance to cast their votes before weighing in before the polls close.
