CHARLESTON – West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner has called out Patrick Morrisey, saying the attorney general and gubernatorial candidate should "focus on the needs of West Virginians" and let "voters take care of" President Joe Biden in November.
"There he goes again," Warner said in a press release from his own gubernatorial campaign. "Every time you turn around, Patrick Morrisey is playing carnival barker trying to get attention.
"He plays on raw emotion, hoping people overlook his out-of-state inability to relate to West Virginians."
Morrisey
| File photo
On February 13, the West Virginia Attorney General's office issued a press release about a letter Morrisey wrote to Vice President Kamala Harris urging her to invoke the 25th Amendment, which provides for the removal of a president if he or she is unable to perform the duties of the office. The letter cites a recent report by Special Counsel Robert Hur that claimed Biden, who is 81, has had cognitive decline.
"We need a president who is mentally fit," Morrisey wrote in the letter to Harris.
But Warner says Morrisey is the one who "has lost his mind in suggesting such a move."
"Every West Virginian knows the one person worse than Joe Biden to be president is Kamala Harris!" Warner said. "Kamala Harris is an ultra-liberal who has spent her entire career being pro-abortion, anti-coal, pro-criminal and supportive of weakening the 2nd Amendment.
"And still, Patrick Morrisey believes that Kamala Harris is better for West Virginia than Joe Biden? Morrisey is the one who is off his rocker."
A spokeswoman for Morrisey's campaign dismissed Warner's comments.
“Mac Warner publicly refuses to endorse Trump," Taylor Van Kirk told The West Virginia Record. "Mac Warner rushes to protect Joe Biden. We appreciate him letting voters know where he stands.”
Van Kirk was referring to a February 6 Republican gubernatorial debate when Warner said he would not endorse Trump or any candidate because, as secretary of state, he is the state's chief election official. Warner also noted he didn't even endorse his wife's campaign when she ran for the House of Delegates.
In his campaign press release, Warner said he also wonders if Morrisey's letter and press release are violations of the West Virginia Ethics Act.
“He should not be using state employees to prepare and distribute what is clearly a political grandstanding letter and press release,” Warner said. “Our attorney general should be focused on what's best for West Virginia and stop swimming in the D.C. swamp.
"This is just the latest attention-grabbing effort by Morrisey, showing that his real desire is to be in the U.S. Senate. His run for governor is simply a steppingstone for Morrisey and his anti-Trump Club for Growth backers.
"It is no secret that Patrick Morrisey wants to be in the U.S. Senate."
Warner also said Morrisey is "out of touch with West Virginia family values."
"Morrisey was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, in 1967. He moved to New Jersey, went to school at Rutgers, and became a politician a quarter of a century ago," the Warner campaign press release states. "He and his wife have lobbied for positions contrary to today’s W.Va. Republican Party Platform. Morisey only received 9 percent of the vote in his losing effort to become a congressman in New Jersey in 2000. After losing the election in New Jersey, Warner says that Morrisey came to West Virginia to try his hand again at elected office."
Warner said he is confident Americans and West Virginians will use the ballot box to send a message loud and clear to Biden, Harris and Democrats in general, predicting Donald Trump will be elected president.
"West Virginia Republicans can see through Morrisey's ridiculous stunts like advocating that Kamala Harris become President of the United States," Warner said. "Just like the original carpetbaggers, Patrick Morrisey has moved south to West Virginia to enrich himself at the expense of hard-working West Virginians.
"He’s out for himself, not the Mountain State."