Trump urges vote against West Virginia GOP candidate who has been in prison

David Jackson | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — President Trump weighed in Monday on a Republican Senate primary in West Virginia, urging GOP voters to reject a former coal industry official recently released from prison.

"To the great people of West Virginia we have, together, a really great chance to keep making a big difference," Trump tweeted. "Problem is, Don Blankenship, currently running for Senate, can’t win the General Election in your State...No way! Remember Alabama. Vote Rep. Jenkins or A.G. Morrisey!"

In urging West Virginians to "remember Alabama," Trump referred to how GOP candidate Roy Moore, who faced allegations of sexual misconduct involving teenagers, lost a special Senate election last year in that largely Republican state.

Blankenship, who spent a year in prison over a coal mine explosion that killed 29 people in 2010, is running against two more established Republicans, U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.

The primary is Tuesday.

To the great people of West Virginia we have, together, a really great chance to keep making a big difference. Problem is, Don Blankenship, currently running for Senate, can’t win the General Election in your State...No way! Remember Alabama. Vote Rep. Jenkins or A.G. Morrisey! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 7, 2018

More: Morrisey: Don Blankenship 'not credible candidate' for U.S. Senate

More: Don Blankenship targets Mitch McConnell's 'China family' in new ad before Senate election

More: Primary voters to cast ballots Tuesday in West Virginia, Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina

West Virginia is a key state in Republicans' efforts to hold their slim Senate majority in the elections in November. The GOP hopes to take out incumbent Democrat Joe Manchin.

Blankenship, convicted of conspiring to violate mine safety standards, said his case grew out of a "war on coal" waged by President Obama and his Justice Department. In seeking a Senate seat, Blankenship has run as a Trump Republican, but his support has not been reciprocated.

Last week, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted that West Virginia Republicans should defeat Blankenship.