Bill Clinton was heckled and booed on Sunday during a campaign event in Logan, West Virginia, where the town’s mayor recently informed Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin that the former first couple are “simply not welcome” because of their “anti-coal messages.”
“I wanted to come here and tell you that I care about what you’re going through. I get it and I think that we can do something about it, that’s the most important thing,” Clinton said at the event, where he was joined by Manchin and Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, a native of the coal town of about 1,800.
But Clinton’s visit was fraught with tension.
Earlier this week, Logan Mayor Serafino Nolletti sent a letter to a staffer in Manchin’s office saying that he opposed the Clintons visiting the town. The Clinton campaign had asked the Logan fire department for permission to use its facilities to host the former president.
“Bill and Hillary Clinton are simply not welcome in our town,” Nolletti wrote in a letter, according to WOWK.
“Mrs. Clinton’s anti-coal messages are the last thing our suffering town needs at this point,” Nolletti wrote. “The policies that have been championed by people like Mrs. Clinton have all but devastated our fair town, and honestly, enough is enough.”
“We wish them the best in their campaign, however we again state they are not welcome on our city properties,” the letter continues. “We hope that you will respectfully consider NOT visiting our community.”
Hillary Clinton has angered many in coal country because of her general opposition to mining the rock and because of her promise in 2014 to “put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.”
Bill Clinton sought to address those concerns on Sunday, pointing to his wife’s proposals to provide job training and other assistance to displaced coal workers.
But those assurances failed to convince some attendees as a group of attendees began yelling in protest after Clinton pledged to help the depressed region.
The former president responded dismissively.
“This is where they start screaming because they don’t want to hear this,” he said as the protesters were led from the venue.
“The difference between us and them is that we listen to them,” he added.
West Virginia’s primary will be held May 10. Nolletti did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller’s request for comment.
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