Don Blankenship, the controversial Republican candidate for Senate in West Virginia, responded on Thursday to sharp criticism from Donald Trump Jr., by blaming “the establishment” for mounting attacks against his campaign.
“The establishment is doing everything they can to keep Joe Manchin in office,” Blankenship said in a statement to CNN, referring to the state’s vulnerable Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.
Blankenship, who trails significantly behind his primary opponents, West Virginia Republican Rep. Evan Jenkins and Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, is facing increasing pressure from Washington Republicans who fear that his run could hurt their plans to oust Manchin in November.
The GOP primary is Tuesday.
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“No other Republican can beat Manchin without my full support, and neither Morrisey nor Jenkins is deserving of my support,” Blankenship said in the statement. “West Virginians should be able to decide for themselves who we send to the U.S. Senate.”
The defiant remarks come after President Trump’s son warned that the GOP doesn’t want to see another Alabama in the West Virginia Senate race. The former Republican candidate for Senate in red-state Alabama, Roy Moore, lost the general election to a Democrat amid allegations of past sexual misconduct.
“I hate to lose. So I’m gonna go out on a limb here and ask the people of West Virginia to make a wise decision and reject Blankenship! No more fumbles like Alabama,” Donald Jr. posted on Twitter on Thursday. “We need to win in November.”
Blankenship, a former executive at coal company Massey Energy who spent a year in prison, is running as an outsider and says he is the only candidate in the race able to help the president “drain the swamp.” He has also feuded with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Trump Jr. responded to Blankenship by saying, “ha!”
“Now I’m establishment?” he tweeted. “No, I’m realistic & I know the first thing Manchin will do is run ads featuring the families of those 29 miners killed due to actions that sent you to prison. Can’t win the general… you should know that & if others in the GOP won’t say it, I will.”
Blankenship is also under fire from a conservative group tied to Washington Republicans that has spent hundreds of thousands on attack ads against him.
Democrats have funneled money into a series of ads in West Virginia against Jenkins and Morissey, in a strategy Trump Jr. and others see as as benefiting Blankenship in order to set up Republicans for failure in the general election.