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President Donald Trump made his eighth visit to the Mountain State with a rally at Huntington Tri-State Airport Friday, Nov. 2, to encourage West Virginians to vote in the midterm election.

The president spoke on issues that could impact the decision of West Virginia voters as they head to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 6, and he endorsed a Republican ticket for the state. Topics such as coal, the U.S. military, the economy and immigration were discussed.

The president said he promised to defend the right of free speech, religious liberties and the Second Amendment.

“We will keep on cutting your taxes, reducing your regulations and raising your income,” President Trump said. “We have the greatest economy in the history of America.”

He also spoke on West Virginia’s coal exports, saying, “Coal exports sky rocketed by 65 percent last year.” The president praised West Virginia on the quality of its coal, stating that places such as Vietnam are buying it and calling it “the finest coal ever.”

“They buy their coal now, because of me, from West Virginia,” President Trump said.

The president also said the economic advancements of the coal and steel industry has put millions of dollars back into the U.S. Treasury.

President Trump said he plans to continue pushing for a strong military.

“If you don’t want to have a problem make your military much stronger than what anybody thought possible,” he said.

The president he plans to “fully rebuild the United States military and regain our great warriors,” by increasing their wages.  He also said the Pentagon is continuing to work on the implementation of a new branch of the armed forces called Space Force. President Trump also said he took credit for “withdrawing American troops from the horrible Iraq nuclear war.”

President Trump said he continues to keep his promises about creating tighter borders.  He said the recent caravans crossing boarders have “overplayed their hand,” and promised to secure borders in order to keep crime out of the United States.

Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Patrick Morrisey spoke to the crowd before the president’s arrival about his mission to “advance conservative values in West Virginia.”

“When I get to the U.S. Senate I’m going to be a strong conservative fighting force,” Morrisey said.

President Trump endorsed Morrisey and Republican West Virginia Delegate Carol Miller. He spoke about the Democratic candidates in West Virginia as well calling them “anti-coal people.”  The President said he likes Senator Joe Manchin as a person, but does not support him politically.

“Joe will never be with us in terms of the vote,” President Trump said. “A blue wave equals a crime wave.”

He vied for West Virginian’s help to remain in power saying “I need your vote for a Republican House. I need your vote for a Republican Senate.”

West Virginia could be a determining factor to decide which party controls the U.S. Senate, President Trump said, and he campaigned for a Republican ticket for the mountain state saying, “You have to vote them [Morrisey and Miller] in on Tuesday.”

Meg Keller can be contacted at [email protected].