West Virginia
Related: About this forumWest Virginia governor rambles, mixes messages on virus
As the coronavirus raged across the nation, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice wondered why people were looking to him for answers. Justice, a billionaire Republican with no previous political experience has rambled through mixed messages on the virus, diminishing his credibility with some West Virginians who have said it's been a struggle to discern exactly what he wants them to do.
The low point may have come in a heavily criticized address broadcast statewide Saturday evening, when Justice warned: "If we don't act and we don't act as strongly as possible right now, we're going to lose lives - and lots of lives" just minutes after he declined to order a broad lockdown. As the Charleston Gazette-Mail, the state's largest newspaper, noted in a headline, he urged action but took none.
That introspective comment came not long after Justice told people that "if you want to go to Bob Evans (restaurant chain) and eat, go to Bob Evans and eat," as health officials and politicians around the world warned people to avoid crowded places. While governors in neighboring states, such as Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, as well as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, have won praise for clear-eyed and specific guidance about the virus, criticism of Justice is coming from all angles.
Outside a grocery store Monday, West Virginia retiree Jim Hale just shook his head when asked about Justice's Saturday night speech. "I was wanting to listen to what he had to say," Hale said as he loaded bags into his car. "I don't know why we all wasted our time."
Gov. Justice:
"I really don't know exactly why this is this way, but I guess everybody is looking to me or the government for guidance, you know."
(Gov Justice, a Trump ally, is running for re-election this fall)
https://www.kob.com/national-news/west-virginia-governor-rambles-mixes-messages-on-virus/5682684/?utm_campaign=thumbnails&utm_medium=onsite&utm_source=zetaglobal
West Virginia Gov. Justice
NRaleighLiberal
(60,545 posts)left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)This guy's clothes look like something I bought at Montgomery Wards 40 years ago
in their going out of business sale.
And he's a billionaire?