West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice wants you to know he didn’t actually drop the “F-bomb” on live TV.
The Republican governor released a brief video message on Twitter Monday after the incident, which occurred during an earlier news briefing about the coronavirus pandemic that same day.
“Today at our news briefing, there was an audio glitch,” Justice said in the video. “And it sounded like that I had said a bad word. A word that I would never say nor have I ever said. No possibility in any way, shape, form, or fashion.”
A statement on today’s news briefing: pic.twitter.com/fKuPrteS35
— Governor Jim Justice (@WVGovernor) May 5, 2020
In the earlier video, it appeared Justice said the “F-word” when discussing reopening businesses in the state.
“I encourage all businesses that are allowed to open to do so only if they f***ing follow the guidelines to keep West Virginians safe,” Justice appeared to say.
West Virginia was the last state in the country to record a case of the coronavirus. Since then, there have been more than 1,200 cases of COVID-19, and at least 50 deaths, according to a count by the New York Times.
