Democratic candidate for president Hillary Clinton, left, grabs the hand of Chelsea Carter after hearing her story about recovering from addiction. Brent Webster, Charleston police chief, third from left, and U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin listen during a panel discussion at the University of Charleston.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — In the last two days, Hillary Clinton has seen two West Virginias.
She’s seen the angry, shouting crowds of coal mining supporters who protested her visit to Williamson Monday. Fueled by a comment she made in March about putting coal miners and coal companies “out of business”, the protestors carried Friends of Coal signs and Donald Trump posters.
Clinton’s offending comment was snipped from a larger statement about the eventual future of coal as an industry and her plan to retrain and re-employ coal miners. Clinton has since said she misspoke.
But the damage was done, and Clinton faced hundreds of protestors at her campaign stop at the Williamson Health and Wellness Center, as did former President Bill Clinton Sunday in Logan, also deep in the southern coalfields.
On Tuesday, Clinton got a much warmer welcome in Charleston…