1. United States
2. W.V.
3. Letter

Your comments this week were an embarrassment to the office you hold. West Virginians stood before you asking for help with something as basic as clean water. Families cannot safely bathe, wash dishes, or live normal lives. Instead of addressing that crisis with the urgency it deserves, you chose to pivot to tourism. Then, when asked about the School Clothing Allowance, you publicly embraced the insinuation that parents are spending children’s clothing benefits on cigarettes and alcohol and announced investigations based on your belief that the money cannot be traced. Where is your evidence? A governor should not accuse thousands of struggling families because of speculation. If there is credible evidence of fraud in individual cases, investigate those cases. That is the proper role of government. But you chose to cast suspicion on an entire population of parents, grandparents raising grandchildren, kinship caregivers, foster families, and working families who simply need help getting children ready for school. I work with these families every day. I have watched grandparents on fixed incomes struggle to clothe grandchildren after addiction or tragedy tore their families apart. I have seen parents skip meals so their children have what they need. Those are the people your words insulted. Leadership requires evidence, not stereotypes. It requires solving problems, not creating convenient villains. West Virginia deserves a governor who responds to people pleading for clean water instead of talking about tourism. We deserve a governor who protects children’s programs instead of treating every struggling family like a suspect. And we deserve leadership that bases public accusations on facts—not assumptions. Stop governing by stereotype. Start governing by evidence. The people of West Virginia deserve nothing less.