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Analysis
Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.V.) has a track record of getting things wrong.
Mooney’s online presence paints him as either a liar or someone who doesn’t know better.
Some of his flubs are low-key amusing, like when he bragged that the United States is “the longest lasting Republic in history.” That honor actually belongs to the Romans, whose republic lasted nearly 500 years.
Other times it isn’t funny at all.
Mooney constantly falsely claims Democrats want to legalize abortion “on demand” up until the moment of birth.
He also seems confused about where he’s from. Mooney has described himself as a “proud West Virginian” since 2014, which is a strange way of saying “I moved here last year to run for office.”
Mooney was a longtime member of the Maryland legislature and chaired the state’s Republican Party. He also initially filed to run for Congress there in 2012.
After his Maryland campaign came to an unceremonious end to comply with those pesky House ethics rules (that still give him trouble), Mooney slapped on a WVU hat and aw-shucksed his way into office in the district where I grew up.
As the National Review described it in a 2013 tweet Mooney liked, country roads took him from Maryland to West-by-god-Virginia and back to Washington, D.C., where he was born.
As part of his “I’m a mountaineer” schtick, Mooney often tweets about coal.
Now he seems to think he can snatch Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.V.) seat by being more pro-coal. Mooney is one of multiple Republicans hoping to oust the centrist Democrat next year.
There’s just one problem: Manchin isn’t merely a friend to the industry—he literally sells coal, which most Democrats would probably agree isn’t exactly his best quality.
Mooney has profiles on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
Dirtiest Delete
Mooney’s first campaign website has been scrubbed of its old content and repurposed for his senate run. But archives remain.
In a since-deleted post from September 2013, Mooney shared the news about how “proud” he was to sign a petition to defund and repeal Obamacare. You know, the legislation that allowed millions of Americans to get healthcare.
He blasted Obamacare online as recently as 2021.
Maybe Mooney doesn’t realize that West Virginia needs more and better healthcare, as it’s 47th in the nation for overall health.
