'The poorest people': W.V. Republican rips GOP gov. for snubbing impoverished voters
West Virginia Senate/screen grab

West Virginia state Sen. Rupie Phillips (R) jabbed Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R) and smeared him as "the gentleman from New Jersey" after he refused to meet with a group of impoverished voters wanting lower utility prices.

During a Senate floor speech on Wednesday, Phillips explained that he had asked the governor to meet with a group of "some of the poorest people."

"Ladies and gentlemen, most of those people are retired or on some government assistance check. They can't afford it," he said of costly utility bills. "I tried to set up a meeting with someone about trying to talk about lowering the rates that consider the micro grids, because it's real simple."

"I think everybody in here has heard as far as water and sewer goes, the more people you have online, the cheaper it is. Same thing with the grid."

Phillips then took a shot at Morrisey by noting he was not a West Virginia native.

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"Well, the gentleman from New Jersey chose not to meet with the group of people that I wanted to meet with," he pointed out. "He said only one-on-one. So I said no.

"I think we're stronger if we come in together and look at this as a whole," he concluded. "But Mr. President, I think today I'm just going to go down to my office and eat a bologna sandwich."

Watch the video below from the West Virginia Senate or click the link.