Senator Jim Justice said something Tuesday that sent shockwaves through West Virginia Republican circles. Then he said the opposite.
In an interview with Politico, Justice suggested the Trump administration should reconsider its approach to immigration enforcement, saying ICE was going too far by removing people who had lived in communities for years. “Before you know it, you get people that get carried away in their job and whatever it may be, and all of a sudden, then you’re dragging people away that have lived on your street corner for 15 years, and I don’t know that we need to be doing that stuff,” Justice said.
He went further. “To get better, the first thing you got to do is admit you’re doing something wrong. And in this situation, with all that’s going on and all the stuff, we probably got to step back from it and say, ‘Maybe we’re doing something wrong here or there,’ and then adjust to that.”
Politico called his statement “the latest and most forceful from a Republican expressing displeasure with how ICE’s operations are being conducted.” The comments came in the context of complaints from ranching groups that ICE operations in Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma were costing cattle producers millions of dollars and disrupting agricultural supply chains. Justice sits on the Senate Agriculture Committee.
By Wednesday, Justice had reversed course entirely.
“Let me be crystal clear: I support President Trump’s immigration strategy, full stop,” Justice said in a statement posted to X. “It’s not surprising that some are twisting my words to score political points, but there should be no confusion about where I stand.”
He called ICE officers brave, praised the Trump administration’s border accomplishments, and said violent criminals and drug traffickers should be “identified, arrested and removed.” No acknowledgment that he had said anything different hours prior.
Enter Chris Pritt
While Justice was walking back his comments, Chris Pritt was sharpening his knives.
Pritt is a Charleston attorney, former West Virginia House of Delegates member, and twice-failed candidate for Senate District 17. He is also, more relevantly, a vocal Morrisey ally. When Morrisey endorsed him in his May 2026 Senate primary against incumbent Tom Takubo, Pritt said he was “thrilled” and looked forward to working with the governor to move West Virginia “in a more conservative direction.” Morrisey-linked PACs spent tens of thousands of dollars supporting Pritt and opposing Takubo in that primary. Pritt lost 56 to 44 percent.
He is now a private citizen with a social media account and a clear view of the 2028 governor’s race.
On X, Pritt posted: “Whoever advised Sen. Justice to attack the @realDonaldTrump administration committed the biggest example of political malpractice I’ve seen in a long time. Pres. Trump is still popular here, especially among Republicans.”
In a second post, Pritt went further: “It’s discussed a lot here in WV GOP circles that Justice isn’t loyal to Pres. Trump and has just used him for political purposes. He was first elected as a Democrat. This just reinforces what many have always thought was true: Justice has no loyalty to the President.”
The WV WASP contacted Pritt directly for comment. He provided the following statement:
“If [Justice] truly believes in what he said he should own it. If he doesn’t believe in what he said he should retract it and apologize to Pres. Trump.” — Chris Pritt, statement to the WV WASP
“I’m flattered Senator Justice is reading what I have to say on social media. This being said, I would hope he would put more focus on improving the lives of West Virginians as a U.S. Senator and less focus on what a private citizen says on X.
“As to the substance of what I wrote, I simply stated two things. First, it was political malpractice to criticize Trump immigration policies and actions. Second, in another post I discussed what has been said over the years by many in political circles here, which is that Sen. Justice uses Pres. Trump for his own political ends and is not loyal.
“I didn’t comment on whether it was factually true that he uses Pres. Trump and is disloyal. I did state what is 100% factually accurate: Senator Justice asserted a criticism of Trump Administration immigration policies. He says ‘to get better, the first thing you got to do is admit you’re doing something wrong,’ according to Politico. In no universe is this not a criticism.
“If he truly believes in what he said he should own it. If he doesn’t believe in what he said he should retract it and apologize to Pres. Trump.”
The WASP asked Justice’s office to respond to Pritt’s comments. Rachael from Justice’s communications team replied: “At this time, our only statement is to refer you back to Senator Justice’s previous statement regarding his support for President Trump’s immigration agenda.”
The 2028 Subtext
The exchange is more interesting when you understand who Pritt is in the current West Virginia political landscape.
Justice has said publicly he is 100 percent considering a run for governor in 2028. Morrisey is the incumbent governor he would be running against. The WASP has been covering that developing dynamic all year, from Justice’s comments at the Greenbrier Chamber of Commerce summit to the Treasurer’s data center report to Morrisey’s record of economic announcements. The 2028 race is not official, but it is already being fought.
Pritt is not a Morrisey spokesman. He is a private citizen. But he is a private citizen who received Morrisey’s endorsement and Morrisey-linked PAC money five months ago, who publicly defines himself as a Morrisey ally, and who is now on X calling Justice disloyal to Trump in the same week Justice was most visibly at odds with the Trump administration. And don’t forget: Pritt served as campaign president of Morrisey 2024, Inc. during the governor’s race.
The national outlet Just the News noted explicitly in its coverage of Justice’s immigration comments that they came “as Justice mulls a primary challenge to Gov. Patrick Morrisey.”
Whether Pritt’s criticism was coordinated or spontaneous, its political effect is the same. The most prominent attack on Justice’s Trump loyalty this week came from a man who owes his most recent political endorsement to Patrick Morrisey.
Justice walked his comments back within hours. The damage, in a Republican primary environment where Trump loyalty is the central test, may take longer to undo. Or not. 🐝
The WV WASP is a West Virginia political news, humor, and commentary outlet. wvwasp.com | @wvwasp on X.