By CHARLES OWENS
Bluefield Daily Telegraph Jun 11, 2021
Justice versus Manchin
CHARLESTON — Governor Jim Justice applauded U.S. Senator Joe Manchin Thursday for his defense of the filibuster in the U.S. Senate, while describing his relationship with the veteran West Virginia Democrat as “great.”
The relationship between Manchin and Justice, a Republican, has been strained in recent years following a very public spat between the two.
“The relationship between myself and Senator Manchin is good,” Justice said Thursday in response to media questions during a virtual pandemic briefing. “I will tell you I hope Joe will continue to hold the line on what is reasonable. We all know that Washington has tilted so far to the left that it is absolutely ridiculous. I don’t know if at some point in time if we are going to be strong enough in this country to be able to stand it.”
Justice made headlines in 2019 after a series of public disagreements with Manchin. At the time, there was some speculation that Manchin would seek another term as governor of West Virginia and run against Justice, but Manchin ultimately opted to remain in the U.S. Senate. Justice has used his pandemic briefings in the past to criticize Manchin. In a pandemic briefing this past March, Justice said he did not start the squabble with Manchin. Rather, Justice argued that it was Manchin who was the one who criticized him first for his handling of the state’s share of the federal CARES Act money.
“Every one of these attacks came from Joe Manchin down to me,” Justice said during a pandemic briefing on March 10 of this year. “I was just responding.”
However, Justice sang a different tune Thursday when he was asked about his relationship with Manchin.
“From the standpoint with Senator Manchin, the relationship is great,” Justice said. “I’m really glad Joe stood up on this filibuster stuff as that could be absolutely almost the dagger that will have destroyed this country.”
Justice said the national spotlight is on West Virginia right now, and that’s a good thing.
“I’m really proud of both of our senators, and I’m really proud of all of our congressmen and congresswomen,” Justice said. “West Virginia is in the spotlight. We are absolutely in the spotlight. And people see us and people are wanting to come. It’s good stuff, great stuff. The outside world knows just how well things are happening in West Virginia. We’ve got more to come and I love it.”
Above all, Justice said he was proud of the citizens of West Virginia.
At one point, Justice was holding virtual pandemic briefings three days a week. The sessions are now held twice a week. Although they are still called pandemic briefings, the governor is increasingly talking about other things that are not related to the pandemic during the sessions.