Murray Energy CEO Robert Murray endorsed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, telling reporters Trump is “all we got” and “the horse to ride” to a GOP victory this fall.
“He’s got his head on right,” Murray told those gathered at an annual coal conference Monday after meeting with Trump about a week ago, according to SNL Financial.
Murray, a Republican donor and outspoken critic of Obama administration coal regulations, says Trump would be “good for coal,” and is confident the presumptive GOP nominee would surround himself with the right people to advise him on policy.
Murray endorsed Mitt Romney in 2012, and has repeatedly challenged Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules forcing coal plants to retire. Murray laid off 100 coal miners after Obama won in 2012, and his business prospects don’t look great if Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton wins in the fall.
“Obama is the greatest destroyer America has ever had,” Murray told Columbus Business First in December. “God fear for America and Ohio if Hillary Clinton gets elected.”
This is Trump’s second major endorsement from coal country. The West Virginia Coal Association endorsed Trump in March, arguing the real estate mogul will “reverse the Democratic regulatory assault that has cost the coal industry more than 40 percent of our production and jobs since 2008,” the group’s president said.
Trump made coal a major part of his campaign in Appalachia, building on past statements he’s made about getting rid of the EPA.
“We’re going to get those miners back to work,” Trump said at a recent event in coal country. “The miners in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, which was so great to me last week, and Ohio and all over, they’re going to start to work again. Believe me. You’re going to be proud again to be miners.”
Want to know more about Murray’s struggle against the EPA? Read The Daily Caller News Foundation’s in-depth report on Murray’s fight: “A Look At The People And Way Of Life Suffering Under Washington’s Plan For Coal“
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