MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Former presidential candidate and Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is coming to the coal country of southern West Virginia for a Town Hall meeting about the needs of rural Americans.
Sanders will speak Sunday afternoon at Mount View High School in Welch. The event is being hosted by MSNBC.
He says the federal government for too long has ignored the needs of rural residents all over the U.S. with too high unemployment, inadequate health care, troubled infrastructure and a drug crisis.
Sanders’ scheduled February appearance at the West Virginia National Guard armory in Welch was canceled. The Guard cited a U.S. Defense Department policy prohibiting the use for political and election events.
Sanders lost to Hillary Clinton in last year’s Democratic presidential primary, though he won in West Virginia.
