Secretary of State Mac Warner is West Virginia’s chief election official. | File photo
CHARLESTON – West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner appointed Patrick Morrisey, saying the attorney general and gubernatorial candidate should “focus on the needs of West Virginians” and let “voters take care of” President Joe Biden in November.
“Here we go again,” Warner announced in a press release about his own gubernatorial campaign. “Every time you turn around, Patrick Morrisey is pretending to be a carnival barker, trying to get your attention.
“He’s playing on raw emotion, hoping people will overlook his inability to connect with West Virginians outside the state.”
Morrissey | File photo
On February 13, the West Virginia Attorney General’s office issued a press release regarding a letter Morrisey wrote to Vice President Kamala Harris, urging her to invoke the 25th Amendment, which provides for the removal of a president if he is unable to discharge the duties of the office. The letter cites a recent report by special counsel Robert Hur, which found that Biden, 81, suffers from cognitive impairment.
“We need a mentally competent president,” Morrisey wrote in a letter to Harris.
But Warner says Morrisey “lost his mind to suggest such a move.”
“Every West Virginian knows the only person who is worse than Joe Biden for president is Kamala Harris!” Warner said. “Kamala Harris is an ultra-liberal who has spent her entire career being pro-abortion, anti-coal, pro-criminal, and supportive of weakening the Second Amendment.
“And yet Patrick Morrisey thinks Kamala Harris is better for West Virginia than Joe Biden? It was Morrisey who became unhinged.”
A spokeswoman for Morrisey’s campaign rejected Warner’s comments.
“Mac Warner publicly refuses to support Trump,” Taylor Van Kirk said West Virginia record. “Mac Warner is rushing to protect Joe Biden. “We appreciate him letting voters know where he stands.”
Van Kirk was referring to the Feb. 6 Republican gubernatorial debate, when Warner said he would not support Trump or any candidate because, as secretary of state, he is the state’s chief election official. Warner also noted that he didn’t even support his wife’s campaign when she ran for the House of Delegates.
In his campaign press release, Warner said he was also wondering whether Morrisey’s letter and press release constituted a violation of the West Virginia Ethics Act.
“He should not use state employees to prepare and distribute a political letter and press release,” Warner said. “Our attorney general should focus on what’s best for West Virginia and stop swimming in the D.C. swamps.
“This is another eye-catching effort by Morrisey, showing that his true desire is to serve in the U.S. Senate. His run for governor is simply a springboard for Morrisey and his anti-Trump Club for Growth supporters.
“It’s no secret that Patrick Morrisey wants to be in the US Senate.”
Warner also said Morrisey is “out of touch with West Virginia family values.”
“Morrisey was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York in 1967. He moved to New Jersey, went to school at Rutgers, and became a politician a quarter of a century ago,” reads Warner’s campaign press release. “He and his wife lobbied for positions contrary to today’s W.Va. Republican Party Platform. Morisey received only 9 percent of the vote in his 2000 bid to become a New Jersey congressman. After losing the New Jersey election, Warner claims Morrisey came to West Virginia to try his hand at the election again.
Warner expressed confidence that Americans and West Virginians will operate the ballot box to send a message deafening and clear to Biden, Harris and Democrats at vast, predicting that Donald Trump will be elected president.
“West Virginia Republicans recognize Morrisey’s absurd exploits, such as encouraging Kamala Harris to become president of the United States,” Warner said. “Like the early carpet traders, Patrick Morrisey moved south to West Virginia to enrich himself at the expense of hard-working West Virginians.
“He’s fighting for himself, not the Mountain State.”
