Justice says West Virginia needs to keep its ‘foot on the gas’
U.S. Sen. Jim Justice made a stop by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Parkersburg on Tuesday where he talked to the kids about his humble upbringing, his time spent as a teacher and coach and the importance of working hard and dreaming big. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
PARKERSBURG — After speaking to children Tuesday at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Parkersburg, U.S. Sen. Jim Justice fielded questions from the media about the importance of funding for programs like the club, the future of West Virginia and President Donald Trump’s goal of acquiring Greenland. Justice, R-W.Va., said his approach in politics has always been bipartisan and that he has focused on getting things done rather than participating in partisan conflict. “Ever since I’ve been the governor and everything else … I could give a hoot whether you’re Republican or Democrat,” he said. “Doesn’t matter to me … I’m going to try, with all in me, to eliminate the food fight. I mean, D.C. is a constant food fight, and that’s why the approval ratings of Congress is 14%, because people don’t get anything done.” Justice was elected to his first term as governor in 2016 as a Democrat and announced he was switching his affiliation to Republican in August 2017. Justice said when he was governor his chief of staff once commented that Washington doesn’t want to actually get anything done because it keeps the wheels of fundraising going. “And that doesn’t sit well with me,” he said. Justice, along with other Republican representatives, advocated for the release of funding last year when the U.S. Deptartment of Education put those processes on hold. “At the end of the day, if you don’t have that funding, maybe we’re not here. And these kids need us. They really need us. And these great people that work like crazy here all the time, mostly out of love and everything, they need us too,” he said. “So you know, if we’re not able to step up, then we’re not much.” Justice said when he took office as governor the state was in a crisis with many of its residents leaving to find better jobs. He said this fragmented West Virginian families and he’s tried to piece them back together. “We’ve done a lot, a lot of work over those eight years, and I hope to goodness that it continues and continues and continues,” Justice said. “We want to bring as many of those folks back as we can, and we want to give hope to our high school and college graduates that they can stay with their families and live here and everything and prosper in this great state with opportunities abound.” Justice said West Virginia was overlooked for a long time and was often viewed as a backwoods, uneducated state. He said he spent his time as governor combating that view. “As it really started rolling, the eyes of the world started recognizing just how good West Virginia is,” Justice said. “Well, that’s everything, you know; we used to be looked at as the backward, dingy, dirty, whatever, uneducated. That’s the way we were looked at. That’s why I said we were honestly expected to know our place. … Now, we’re maybe the diamond in the rough that they miss, and that’s hugely important.” When asked about Trump’s remarks that the acquisition of Greenland is vital for national security, Justice said he doesn’t have the amount of information he needs to form a definitive opinion on the matter. “There’s a whole lot of inside baseball information about Greenland that I don’t have,” Justice said. “Only the President has that information, you know, especially national security information. And so it wouldn’t be fair for me to say, ‘Oh, that’s a terrible idea. It’s a great idea.’ But I have a lot of confidence in our president, I really do, and the folks that are around them.” Justice said the country has done a lot of good in the last year under Trump, and that at the end of the day, he believes the right choice will be made with Greenland. He said under the administration of former President Joe Biden the country was “shipwrecking in every way” and voters, who he refers to as “Toby and Edith”, are now looking at his party to help them with the rising cost of living. “They’re wondering how they’re going to make the car payment, how they’re going to pay the electricity bill, how they’re going to pay for the insurance, whatever it may be, Toby and Edith are hurting. And at the end of the day ,Toby and Edith are going to look to the Republicans and say, ‘You’re in charge, and you need to straighten this up’ And if we absolutely chase too many other things and we don’t really dial into Toby and Edith, it could end up a bad day.” Justice said it was ok if people liked him or didn’t when he was governor but he always listened to the residents of West Virginia over the legislators. “Because I believe that the people were the voice that I wanted to listen to,” he said. He said while he was governor, he drove around 130,000 miles every year throughout the state in his own vehicle to listen to what West Virginians wanted. “Too many politicians, and I’m just kind of just running my mouth here, but too many politicians believe this: ‘We know what’s good for you, and that’s what you should do,'” he said. “I never believed that. I really believe that Toby and Edith know what’s good for them, and that’s who I wanted to hear.” He said West Virginia needs to keep its “foot on the gas” and not spread negativity or set unrealistic goals. “Let’s keep going West Virginia. I mean, my goodness, we’ve got so many great opportunities, and that’s what we need to be doing,” Justice said. Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.comLocal News
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