Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who may or may not run for re-election or even the presidency in 2024, knows how critical it is to represent the vivid red state where former and potentially future President Donald Trump he won handily in 2016 and 2020. That being said, apparently his former campaign staffer, Charlie Collins, doesn’t Fox News reported on Tuesday that on January 17, 2020, he posted on social media in which he shared a political cartoon, “Hang a Convict,” in which he mentioned Trump.
Collins’ previously public Facebook post on April 25, 2020 read: “Hey Trumpsters, have you finally figured out that this idiot is trying to kill us all? “Between his idiotic statement about disinfectant and his press conferences promoting hydroxychloroquine, it’s hard to imagine how much more evidence Americans need to see what a complete moron this man is.”
On June 2, 2020, Collins posted another post about Trump. “You really call this a religious president? Wake up people!” – we read in the post. “If you believe this idiot, I wouldn’t want to attend any services with you.” The post then read: “Hello America, I am not your president, but your dictator.”
In a June 25, 2021 post, Collins wrote, “Lock this fraudster up,” again referring to Trump.
The content is no longer available or appears to be hidden, although the Fox News report includes screenshots.
Collins appears to have had a penchant for sharing posts from particularly anti-Trump Occupy Democrats, which Fox News also highlighted with screenshots. One post from June 7, 2021 defended former Secretary of State and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, and another from February 1, 2021 wrote to the Republican Party that “you sold your soul.”
Another post from Occupy Democrats, shared by Collins on September 1, 2021, portrays Trump and Republican lawmakers as members of the Taliban, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, as well as Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Jim Jordan of Ohio.
The report cited Manchin April 2023 quarterly Federal Election Commission records show Collins is the only person who receives a “salary.” A spokesman for the senator’s campaign provided Fox News with a statement that “this individual is no longer employed by this campaign.” The statement also noted that “Senator Manchin has always believed that a fundamental pillar of our democracy is respectful civil disagreement and has zero tolerance for violence or threats of violence.”
Whether Democrats have a chance to keep Manchin’s seat in West Virginia depends almost entirely on him running again. Republicans appear particularly favored when it comes to the 2024 Senate map, with Manchin’s seat being worth watching as it is for Democratic Sens. Jon Tester in Montana and Sherrod Brown in Ohio.
West Virginia gave to President Joe Biden its lowest acceptance rate of any stateand Trump won there by over 42 points in 2016 and by nearly 40 points in 2020. Manchin won re-election in 2018 compared to Republican Patrick Morrisey by just 3.3 percent, even though the year was considered a blue year.
