Her husband easily swept West Virginia in both 1992 and 1996. When she was on the ballot during the Democratic presidential primary in 2008, she beat then-Senator Obama by 41 percentage points.

Now, Hillary Clinton has been defeated by challenger Senator Bernie Sanders by 15.6 percentage points after outright declaring in Coal Country’s own West Virginia that during her presidency, “we’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.”

Clinton’s threatening comments about the coal industry ensured her defeat and were a change in tone from her last presidential run. Instead of talking about being the granddaughter of a Welsh coal miner and supporting investments in coal as she did in 2008, today she supports Obama’s coal-fired plant regulations that put coal companies out of business. 

Mrs. Clinton was confronted at a campaign stop May 2^nd when she came back to the home of over 18,000 coal workers she threatened to pink slip only two months prior. As protestors chanted outside her campaign stop, Bo Copley, a laid-off coal worker, asked how she could claim to be a “friend” of West Virginians.

Click here for video of the meeting with Bo Copley.

Bill Clinton’s campaign stops on behalf of his wife haven’t gone without their own share of controversy. The former president was repeatedly interrupted by protesters during a rally for Hillary in Logan, West Virginia on May 1^st. Mr. Clinton was booed and asked by a protestor when his wife planned to “wipe us all out.”

Click here for video of the confrontation Mr. Clinton encountered.

Hillary and Bill’s hostility toward miners has been an obvious embarrassment to the Democratic Party. In an email to Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), West Virginia county officials said, “Bill and Hillary Clinton are simply not welcome in our town.” The officials refused to let Clinton’s staff use the city of Logan’s firehouse, saying Clinton’s anti-coal messages are the “last thing” their town needs.

Manchin has been an outspoken critic of President Obama’s anti-coal policies and promised on MetroNews “Talkline” to be “hard on Hillary” for her unrealistic energy policy plans. Having endorsed Clinton in April of last year, the senator was horrified when he heard of her so called “misstatement” about putting coal out of business in West Virginia.

West Virginia is taking the “anti-establishment” route this election season to fight the job-killing DC politicians. The West Virginia Coal Association has officially endorsed businessman Donald Trump for president. Bill Ranley, the association’s president, believes Mr. Trump would “reverse the Democratic regulatory assault” that has cost “more than 40 percent” of their coal production and jobs since 2008.

As shown by the election results, Sanders’ own “anti-establishment” rhetoric has attracted West Virginia Democrats. Mike Plante, a Democratic consultant based in Charleston, said that Clinton’s comment on cutting mining jobs confirms the fears of voters who believe that Washington is working against them.

This is ironic considering Sanders is more anti-fossil fuel than Clinton and Obama.  Sanders’ plan includes a ban on former oil and gas lobbyists from working in the White House and a ban on new fossil fuel lease sales on public lands. It also provides for faster carbon emissions cuts than Obama’s clean power plan.

It is hard to imagine the costs of regulations more aggressive than what Obama has implemented.  During this administration, tens of thousands of coal miners and power plant workers have lost their jobs. In West Virginia, 1,892 coal jobs were lost in the first 25 days of 2016. Since 2013, 10,841 Mountain State miners have lost their jobs.

In the end, even with Sanders’ West Virginia victory, Clinton is still on the path to win the Democratic nomination. And if she wins the White House, how many more West Virginia miners will struggle to provide for their families?