First Lady Melania Trump listens as West Virginia Governor Jim Justice speaks during an opioids roundtable with state and local community leaders Monday, July 8, 2019, at Cabell-Huntington Health Department in Huntington, W.Va. (Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks)

Republican Governor Jim Justice Slams Trump’s Endorsement

Republican Governor Jim Justice of West Virginia is slamming President Trump’s endorsement in a contested Republican primary pitting two sitting United States Representatives against one another The Daily Caller reports.

Trump has endorsed Alex Mooney, who is running against fellow Republican David McKinley due to West Virginia losing a seat due to the census and redistricting.

Mooney is seen as pro-Trump, while McKinley, a moderate has drawn the endorsement of Democrat Senator Joe Manchin.

Justice, a former Democrat, is saying the endorsement in the race is a mistake while also qualifying he is still friends with Trump.

Trump endorsed Mooney, who is running against fellow Republican Rep. David McKinley in a race that has turned extremely negative. Mooney has called McKinley a “RINO,” citing his votes to certify the 2020 presidential election, in favor of a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and in favor of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In response, McKinley has blasted Mooney as a carpetbagger and “political prostitute,” noting that he served in the Maryland state Senate before moving to West Virginia in 2014…

“Now I don’t have a dog in the fight against Alex Mooney in any way,” Justice said during a Thursday appearance with McKinley at a research facility in the northern part of the state, according to the Parkersburg News and Sentinel. “But I can tell you I have been close with the Trump family, and I am friends with Trump. From time to time, he can make a mistake. And this time, he has made a mistake.”

Trump won the state in 2020 by 39 points and has called Mooney a “warrior in every sense of the way.”

Justice has said he has only spoke to Mooney once since taking office.

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