Trump at West Virginia rally: 'We didn't win because of Russia'

At a rally in Huntington, West Virginia, on Thursday night, President Trump thanked the audience in front of him for his election victory last year, saying: "We didn't win because of Russia, we won because of you. Are there any Russians here tonight? Any Russians?"

He also called the "Russian story" a "total fabrication. It is just an excuse for the greatest loss in the history of American politics. That's all it is." Trump did not comment on any of the reports about Special Counsel Robert Mueller impaneling a grand jury in Washington, D.C., as part of the Russia probe, but did say he hopes Mueller's investigation will be "an honest one" because that's what "the millions of people who gave us our big win in November deserve and what all Americans who want a better future want and deserve."

Speaking in coal country, Trump said he kept his campaign promise to the people of West Virginia by ending the "war on beautiful, clean coal. We have stopped the EPA intrusion. American coal exports are already up." Trump's trip to West Virginia makes sense — his poll numbers, low nationally and across most of the country, are highest in West Virginia, according to a July Gallup poll in which 60 percent of residents approved of his presidency.

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