During an interview released on Wednesday’s edition of CBS’s “The Takeout,” Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV) discussed the midterms and said that “The people are hurting all across this country, and no matter how much they love us, if they’re hurting, they can’t stand with us.” And “we’ve done a lot of good stuff, and I love our president, I think he’s done amazing stuff, … but at the same time, there’s a lot of stuff that’s hanging out there that’s causing a lot of people a lot of grief.”
Host and CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent Major Garrett said, “Senator, talk to me about the political environment you imagined for Republicans this midterm. You were quoted recently saying Republicans ought to be scared to death. Inflation is still persistent, the war still goes on with Iran, now there’s a trade war with Canada. Give me your sense of where things are.”
Justice responded, “Well, here’s the thing: Probably four months ago, I, on different occasions, tried to tell the Republican caucus, at the end of the day, we’re in control and we are going to be held responsible. And if we absolutely let the Democrats that — I really believe didn’t even have a hand to play — if we let them go, they’re great at playing their hand, and Republicans are terrible at playing theirs. We do great stuff, but someway, somehow — I relate it a lot of times to a pitcher pitching nine straight perfect games, and all of a sudden, you’re the pitcher, and you’re worried about them letting you in the game again. And — which is crazy, because we’ve done a lot of really, really, really good work. And so, — but behind all of that, I would just say just this, is what I said four or five months ago to my Republican colleagues. I said if you don’t — if you’re not really in touch with what’s going on with Toby and Edith out there, and I always call Toby and Edith the voters, if you’re really not in touch with them and you’re missing something here and we’ve got a lot of people that are hurting. That’s all there is to it. The people are hurting all across this country, and no matter how much they love us, if they’re hurting, they can’t stand with us. And so, with all that being said, I think if we don’t really watch out, the midterm is going to be a not very good day in our neighborhood. And we should always — I’m always the guy that would say, you’ve got to run through the finish line, and I think you’ve got to have some level of fear or afraid or whatever you want to call it that, absolutely, it keeps you on your toes, you don’t take anything for granted. And really, we’ve done a lot of good stuff, and I love our president, I think he’s done amazing stuff, and — but at the same time, there’s a lot of stuff that’s hanging out there that’s causing a lot of people a lot of grief.”
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