Energy

Trump Courts Coal Country By Pretending To Shovel Coal At Rally

Youtube Screen shot

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Chris White Tech Reporter
Font Size:

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump donned a coal miner’s hat and mimicked shoveling coal during a West Virginia rally Thursday after receiving the endorsement of the state’s most powerful coal association.

“Mr. president, on behalf of the best coal miners in the world, who mine the cleanest and safest and most environmentally sound coal in the world, we’re so pleased to introduce to endorse you today,” Chris Hamilton, vice president of the West Virginia Coal Association, told Trump at the rally.

Trump placed a hard hat, emblazoned with the words “President trump,” atop his head and feigned shoveling coal, while his supporters cheered him on.

Trump proceeded to rail against the environmental regulations affecting coal miners, an issue that has touched a nerve in coal country.

Trump, who has all but wrapped up his party’s nomination, asked the Charleston, West Virginia crowd to focus on the general election and avoid wasting their time voting in the state’s primary.

“Now what I want you to do is save your vote,” Trump told the crowd. “You know, you don’t have to vote anymore. Save your vote for the general election, OK? Forget this one, the primary is gone.”

West Virginia has shed thousands of coal-related jobs in the past few years, due in part, critics say, to overarching regulations coming from the Obama administration.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, has not been received as well by coal states like Kentucky, West Virginia, and Ohio.

Clinton apologized Monday for saying in March that she would put coal mines “out of business” after being confronted by a former West Virginia coal miner.

“What I said was totally out of context from what I meant,” Clinton said in West Virginia as protesters gathered around. “It was a misstatement, because what I was saying is that the way things are going now, we will continue to lose jobs.”

The former secretary of state’s overtures to the area have fallen on deaf ears so far.

Logan, West Virginia Mayor Serafino Nolletti wrote a letter to Gov. Joe Manchin’s office in April, telling the governor he opposed the Clintons visiting the town.

“Bill and Hillary Clinton are simply not welcome in our town,” Nolletti wrote in the letter, according to local media accounts.

“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.”

Follow Chris on Facebook and Twitter

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.