Bad timing
West Virginia GOP mocks Democratic governor right before he says he's becoming a Republican
In a tweet using some of President Trump's greatest hits — "low-energy," "sad!" — the West Virginia GOP on Thursday publicly shamed Gov. Jim Justice (D, for now), claiming he refused to stop giving millions of dollars worth of contracts to companies who "cheated" West Virginia taxpayers. It was the classic case of poor timing, as just a few hours later, Justice announced he was about to become the state's newest member of the Republican Party.
Justice, who was a Republican before becoming a Democrat in 2015, confirmed at a Trump rally in Huntington, West Virginia, that he was switching parties. Despite the tweet, there shouldn't be any hard feelings, West Virginia Republican Party Chairman Conrad Lucas said in a statement, because "Jim Justice's past differences with our party and our party's platform came while he was a Democrat. We look forward to a new beginning as the governor now embraces the Republican Party."
So, even though the West Virginia GOP disagreed with everything he did up until Thursday afternoon when he announced he's still the same person but just a Republican again, the state party now fully accepts him — that is, of course, until Justice goes back to the Democratic Party, maybe becomes a Libertarian, or joins Jill Stein as her 2020 Green Party running mate.