WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — Bo Copley, a laid off coal miner, relies heavily on his faith and says he hopes Hillary Clinton heard his message while speaking with her in Mingo County Monday night.
“If she were to be President of this nation, who ever wins, we want God to drive them to do whatever this nation needs done,” Copley said on Tuesday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
Copley, 39, a former maintenance planner for an Arch Coal subsidiary, was able to address Clinton, the Democrat presidential front runner and former Secretary of State, during a round table discussion at the Williamson Health and Wellness Center.
He spoke to Clinton about how the struggling coal industry has affected him, his family and many others living in West Virginia.
Copley said a few things were clear in his mind before speaking to Clinton including the bible verse Jeremiah 29:11 and his children. After Clinton received a lot of back lash for her comments earlier this year about putting coal miners out of work, Copley said he wasn’t leaving without reminding her of how her words impacted him.
“I felt like the Lord said that you need to show her your kids. You need to show her the people that those kind of statements affect,” he said. “I just wanted her to know that my children were the ones that I had to come home to and explain that daddy didn’t have a job anymore.”
During the discussion, Clinton admitted what she said was a “misstatement” and that what she meant was that with “the way things are going now, we will continue to lose jobs.” She also promised to do everything she could to help the coalfield communities no matter what happens this election year.
But Copley said Clinton still doesn’t have his vote this Primary Election on May 10.
“I just don’t think she’s what we need,” he said.
Nearly 350 protesters attended Monday night’s event where she was yelled at entering and exiting the building.