Governor of West Virginia Tells Critics to Kiss His Dog’s ‘Hiney’ During State of the State Address

Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV) and his pup Babydog sent a harsh message to critics during his State of the State address on Thursday.

While speaking at the House of Delegates chamber on Thursday, Justice first gave a rundown of his state’s recent accomplishments, touting West Virginia’s economic development.

The governor, whose address was postponed from earlier this month when he was diagnosed with Covid-19, went on to praise the state’s “exploding” tourism and its record low unemployment rates.

“Proud to never, ever forget our coal miners and our gas workers and all of the fact that we all should be so proud of who we are, record pay raises, Communities In Schools doing phenomenal work, streamlining and eliminating waste, combating drugs,” he continued. “Feeding the hungry — very, very — just the essential ingredients who we ought to be, building road after road and surplus after surplus and made education our priority and did so and the world began to know that we are that diamond in the rough that everybody knew.”

He then asked someone to pass him his dog Babydog to the podium.

“They never believed in West Virginia — that we could do it. They never believed that the Nucors or the GreenPower or Owens & Minor — they never believed. They never believed in the new They never believed they would be here,” he said. “They told every bad joke in the world about us.”

Justice then proceeded to pick up his English bulldog, turn her around so she could moon the cameras, and added, “And so from that standpoint, Babydog tells Bette Midler and all of those out there, ‘Kiss her hiney!'”

The governor likely gave Midler her own shout-out due to a controversial tweet she sent last month, in which she called the state, “Poor, illiterate and strung out.”

“You are an incredible group of people. Don’t become DC,” he added. “Keep it going. Way to go, West Virginia, proud of you.”

Watch above, via WSAZ News.