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Justice addresses Calhoun bus wreck, W.Va. joke on MSNBC

CHARLESTON – Gov. Jim Justice addressed the crash of a Calhoun County school bus with an intoxicated driver at the wheel and a joke made by political pundits at West Virginia’s expense during his online briefing Monday.

Justice said he plans to visit the county where 19 students were traveling in a bus that rolled on its side Monday evening. The driver, 54-year-old Jeffrey Brannon of Big Bend, was arrested at the scene and arraigned on three counts each of driving under the influence resulting in serious injury and child neglect resulting in injury. He’s being held at the Central Regional Jail in Flatwoods on a $250,000 bond.

“We’ll be visiting the Calhoun County schools real, real, real, real soon,” said Justice, who will deliver a School Building Authority check to the district on March 11.

The governor said one young woman at the scene will be recognized for helping the students on the bus.

“I commend these incredible students,” he said.

School officials said students were taken to three different hospitals. A criminal complaint filed in the case said at least three students, between ages 12 and 14, suffered serious injuries, including a fractured vertebra and a concussion.

Later in the briefing, Justice took issue with remarks by MSNBC personalities covering the Super Tuesday returns. In a video clip being widely shared online, host Jen Psaki and other panelists discuss exit polls showing voters in Virginia listed the southern border as their top concern. They questioned that given Virginia’s location and suggested it was part of a strategy to pit voters against people who look different from them.

“Well, Virginia does have a border with West Virginia, very contested area,” fellow host Rachel Maddow says as she and others laugh.

“Build the wall,” another panelist chimes in, a reference to former president Donald Trump’s controversial slogan and strategy for securing the southern border.

“Here’s what I would say to both of our liberal so-called elites,” Justice said during the briefing. “We love all the folks that are in Virginia in every way, and I’m sure that they love us too.”

The governor said anyone “with at least a small brain” can see the influx of illegal immigrants crossing the border affects Virginia, West Virginia and every other state in the country.

“Absolutely what has happened there is absolutely disgraceful in every way, and we all know it,” he said.

Justice said the hosts were upset because of Trump’s popularity in Virginia.

“Well I’ll tell you just one thing for dadgum certain, Sister Jen and Sister Rachel: This is coming, and it’s coming like a freight train. And you better get used to it,” he said. “Because President Trump is going to be our president, thank God. And thank God we’re going to get rid of a whole lot of your way of thinking.”

Trump has endorsed Justice in his bid for the U.S. Senate. Justice has long touted his friendship with and support for the former president.

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