West Virginia Governor Jim Justice just wants you to know that he has black friends, so his remarks about former President Barack Obama can’t possibly be construed as racist. It’s almost as if racists have held a meeting in which they agreed that if they’re ever caught doing racist shit, they can just say they ‘have a black friend.’ Problem solved! Justice, a Republican, has a history of using racially-charged rhetoric.
Justice was touting his state to host the Republican National Convention for the 2020 election after Donald Trump said he wanted to move it from Charlotte, NC, over the Democratic Governor insisting the GOP scale back its planned 50,000 person event due to the pandemic.
Justice saw an opening for his state, so he told reporters that he would welcome all presidents to West Virginia with the exception of Obama.
“I wanted to let him know just how welcome he is in West Virginia, and ANY president, you know, we should absolutely welcome all but, you know… maybe not Barack Obama,” he said.
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The Republican Governor’s office insisted said that Justice’s remarks were said, “in jest” and were regarding Obama’s “War on Coal,” and said that he has African-American friends, according to the Associated Press.
“If people only knew my extended family, you know, and all the African-American people that I associate with and that I take care of, families that I take care of, and people, individuals, kids, and everything, that I take care of and that I’m in communication with every day, almost,” Justice said.
“I would surely hope and pray that anybody that knows me would know that there’s not a racial bone in my body,” Justice insisted. “And from the standpoint of people casting stones in that regard, that’s just terrible, it’s ridiculous because that’s just not me in any way.”
“My comments had nothing whatsoever in any way to do with skin color,” Justice added. “My comments have everything to do with policies, the policies of an administration that crippled this state.”
Justice faced a backlash with online comments pouring in to remind the Governor that Obama is our country’s first black President — and also the only black President this country has ever had. And with Donald Trump trying to start a race war, complete with threats of military intervention, it’s probably best if he goes back to his circle of pals to come up with a better excuse than, “But, I have a black friend.” That shit doesn’t fly anymore, dude.
Featured image via screen capture
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