Bette Midler Blasted for Denigrating West Virginia As ‘Poor, Illiterate and Strung Out’: ‘Know This. They Hate You’
ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
Actress Better Midler has come under fire for denigrating West Virginia as “poor, illiterate and strung out,” a day after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) came out on Sunday against the Build Back Better spending legislation.
Midler tweeted on Monday, “What #JoeManchin, who represents a population smaller than Brooklyn, has done to the rest of America, who wants to move forward, not backward, like his state, is horrible. He sold us out. He wants us all to be just like his state, West Virginia. Poor, illiterate and strung out.”
What #JoeManchin, who represents a population smaller than Brooklyn, has done to the rest of America, who wants to move forward, not backward, like his state, is horrible. He sold us out. He wants us all to be just like his state, West Virginia. Poor, illiterate and strung out.
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) December 20, 2021
Twitter users slammed Midler.
The places y’all call “flyover country” are where elections are won and this sort of bicoastal elitism and arrogance will guarantee the GOP will sweep the midterms in ’22 and the White House in ’24. Keep it up. https://t.co/IBuoSGPbA4
— Torraine Walker (@TorraineWalker) December 21, 2021
Know this. They hate you. https://t.co/vFY9HxQJY4
— Andrew Wilkow (@WilkowMajority) December 21, 2021
This hideous hag summarizes what narcissistic mainstream liberals think of people who live outside the deranged bell jars of NYC, LA & DC.
Dems praise Repubs who oppose their “side” as heroes while attacking centrists like Manchin and their constituents.https://t.co/o3ynDDXy3S
— Samantha Chang (@samantha_chang) December 21, 2021
So, @BetteMidler when are you going to take this garbage down? You should really read a few books on Economics about monetary inflation… https://t.co/PWtb3Y99Kx
— Michael Folk for WV (@MichaelFolk34) December 21, 2021
Bette Midler seems like a shit person and this is a shit take. https://t.co/qudOXKtfsO
— Isaac Saul (@Ike_Saul) December 20, 2021
“Poor, illiterate and strung out.”
This is what Hollywood thinks of the rest of America. https://t.co/eQVsFKVJn9
— Cameron Arcand (@cameron_arcand) December 20, 2021
I see Democrats are using tired tropes about WV again because Sen. Manchin refuses to go along with destructive spending bills. Now it’s “poor, illiterate and strung out.”
Maybe ask WV native & your fellow actress Jennifer Garner how she feels about you defaming her home state? https://t.co/LdOwjxeInL
— Gabriella Hoffman (@Gabby_Hoffman) December 20, 2021
And yeah, Bette Midler put it cruder than most would. But it’s underlying so much of the discourse at a subtler level. Buried in the assumption that they are voting against their interests is such condescension – and denial about what was actually in Build Back Better.
— Batya Ungar-Sargon (@bungarsargon) December 20, 2021
You read that right.
Bette Midler just took a big steaming dump on an entire state because a senator didn’t vote how she wanted. https://t.co/kITrLiKN8d
— Cory Morgan (@CoryBMorgan) December 20, 2021
There are 12 states with a smaller population than Brooklyn, represented by 13 democratic senators (including Bernie and Angus King) but only 11 republicans. DC has a third of the population of Brooklyn and you want to make it a state. This is just angry flailing. https://t.co/YgQCUgFSM7
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) December 21, 2021
Midler later apologized for her tweet, which is still up.
“I apologize to the good people of WVA for my last outburst. I’m just seeing red; #JoeManchin and his whole family are a criminal enterprise. Is he really the best WV has to offer its own citizens? Surely there’s someone there who has the state’s interests at heart, not his own!” she tweeted.
I apologize to the good people of WVA for my last outburst. I’m just seeing red; #JoeManchin and his whole family are a criminal enterprise. Is he really the best WV has to offer its own citizens? Surely there’s someone there who has the state’s interests at heart, not his own!
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) December 20, 2021
