W.Va. gov: ‘All of us can pronounce’ new WH chief of staff’s name

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice mocked President Trump’s former White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, Thursday, saying that the president had replaced him with a chief of staff whose name voters can actually pronounce.

“This man is a really dear friend of mine, but you know what else is unbelievable? That this man now has a chief of staff that all of us can pronounce his first name,” Justice said to cheering Trump supporters at a rally in Huntington, W.Va.

Priebus, a former Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman, quietly resigned last week before Trump announced that he had named Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly as his new chief of staff.

{mosads}Speculation had long swirled that Priebus’s future in the White House was uncertain. But after White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci savaged the former RNC chairman in an expletive-ridden interview with The New Yorker, Priebus’s tenure seemed particularly threatened.

Kelly, a retired general, fired Scaramucci after officially taking office on Monday.

Justice also voiced frustration with continued media coverage of the ongoing special counsel and congressional investigations into Russia’s role in the 2016 election and possible coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

“Have we not heard enough about the Russians?” he said. “I mean to our god in heaven above think about it. The stock market’s at 22,000 and this country has hope and we’re on our way.”

Justice, who won election last year as a Democrat, announced Thursday night that he will switch his party affiliation to become a Republican.