Sen. Shelley Moore Capito delivered a scathing indictment of President Obama’s environmental policies Tuesday at the Republican convention during a night of speeches dedicated to Donald Trump’s promise to create jobs.
The West Virginia Republican took aim at one of the biggest gaffes of Hillary Clinton’s campaign to date, one that likely cost her a primary victory in that state.
“Hillary Clinton has already promised ‘to put a lot of coalminers and coal companies out of business.’ She wants to put thousands more Americans out of work,” Capito said. “She has promised to devastate communities and families across coal country.”
Capito’s state has been especially hard hit by the environmental policies of the Obama administration. The resulting job losses swept Republicans into a majority in the state legislature in 2014.
“In 2008, President Obama famously said, ‘If somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can. It’s just that it will bankrupt them.’ Eight years later, it’s safe to say that his actions match his words,” Capito said. “He’s never realized that when you bankrupt a coal company, you deprive communities of their livelihood.”
Capito blasted Clinton for the lavish lifestyle that has allowed the former secretary of state to lose touch with the average American, arguing she has “thrived in a world where the rules bend to her.”
“Hillary Clinton understands coal miners and blue-collar workers about as well as she understands secure email,” Capito said.
She had high praise for Trump, whom she promised would roll back the environmental policies that have saddled every working family with $15,000 in regulatory costs.
“Donald Trump speaks directly to rural Americans who have been devastated by the Obama administration,” Capito said. “The American people know that Hillary Clinton has forfeited her trust and has broken her bond with working Americans.”
