There were probably people who pushed others out of the way to be the last person on board the Titanic. https://t.co/I6bCvSJ0f0
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) August 3, 2017
Yeah, there’s a front-pager better qualified to write about this, but he’s on vacation. Prior turncoat Jim Justice switches sides again, per the Washington Post:
At a rally with President Trump in West Virginia on Thursday night, the state’s Gov. Jim Justice declared that he is leaving the Democratic Party that he said abandoned him and is joining the Republican Party.
“The Democrats walked away from me,” Justice told the crowd of thousands gathered at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington. “I can’t help you any more being a Democrat governor.”…
Justice, who until 2015 was registered as a Republican, is one of the last remaining Democrats elected to statewide positions in the state. Trump won West Virginia by 42 points over Democrat Hillary Clinton. The switch was first reported by the New York Times.
After being brought to the stage in the middle of Trump’s rally, Justice praised Trump as a “great president.” He also touted his relationships with Trump’s children, including Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., both of whom he said he has gotten to know personally.
“This man is a good man,” Justice said of Trump. “He’s got a backbone, he’s got real ideas, he cares about America, he cares about us in West Virginia.”
Justice’s announcement was made under virtual secrecy, according to Democratic Party officials, who said that the governor did not inform the party nor did he inform his own staff before the news became public.
“Jim Justice deceived the voters of West Virginia when he ran as a Democrat 8 months ago,” said Democratic Governors Association executive director Elisabeth Pearson. “West Virginians have learned that they simply can’t trust Jim Justice. He will always put his financial interests above the needs of West Virginians.
“As Republicans have repeatedly said, Jim Justice owes millions of dollars in unpaid company taxes, after a deal with a Russian coal company,” she added. ” The debts have only worsened during Justice’s term as governor. If President Trump cut a deal, we hope it does not put U.S. taxpayers on the hook to bail out Jim Justice’s personal finances.”…
What, more Russian fiscal entanglements?
Fun fact: Jim Justice sold his coal mines to Russians for $600 million in 2012-recently bought them back for $5 mil. https://t.co/LxU7J8loqr
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) August 4, 2017
He owns a golf course and casino too, btw pic.twitter.com/o4HQhwLsbB
— Schooley (@Rschooley) August 3, 2017
ETA: Class tells when there is no class…
Gov. Justice makes a dig at Reince Priebus: Trump "now has a chief of staff that all of us can pronounce his first name" pic.twitter.com/N6bAWtlYa6
— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 4, 2017