Trump says Republicans shouldn't back ex-coal exec in West Virginia U.S. Senate race

[May 07, 2018]    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday waded into the U.S. Senate race in West Virginia, urging Republicans to reject former coal executive Don Blankenship and instead choose U.S. Representative Evan Jenkins or state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.

Former Massey Energy Chief Executive Don Blankenship is talking on his mobile phone as he walks into the Robert C. Byrd U.S. Courthouse in Charleston, West Virginia December 3, 2015. REUTERS/Chris Tilley/File Photo

"Problem is, Don Blankenship, currently running for Senate, can’t win the General Election in your State...No way!" Trump wrote on Twitter. Blankenship served time in prison for safety violations connected to a 2010 mining disaster.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Makini Brice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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