West Virginia And Virginia Are Not The Same State
Republican presidential candidateDonald Trumpkicked off a rally in Abingdon, Virginia, on Wednesday by describing how well he did in theWest Virginia primary.
Throughout the rally, he mentioned both Virginia andWest Virginia:
Is Trump in Virginia or West Virginia? He's mentioned being in both in this speech.
— Ben Dreyfuss (@bendreyfuss)August 10, 2016
“Hillary forgot about West Virginia!” Trump says before catching himself. He is in Virginia today, not West Virginia.
— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie)August 10, 2016
Does Trump know he's in Southwest Virginia and not West Virginia?#trumpinswva
— Che (@mountainembrace)August 10, 2016
To be totally, completely, 100 percent clear for anyone who might not know: Virginia and West Virginia are not the same state. Virginia became a state on June 25, 1788. West Virginia split from Virginia during the Civil War and became the 35th state on June 20, 1863.
See here, a map showing the outlines of two different places:
Trump was speaking at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center ― his first clue he was not in West Virginia. Granted, he was speaking to a group of coal miners, and West Virginia is known for its mining, so he could have been trying to make a connection. But it was a weak one, if so.
Compared to the rest of the racist, xenophobic things Trump says, this is hardly a big deal. It’s nothing compared to his statements that implied he wanted someone toshoot Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, or his proposal toban all Muslims from entering the United States.
But this explainer was a long time coming. Trump is hardly the first to mix up West Virginia and Virginia ― it’s sadly a common occurrence.
As a native West Virginian, I regularly receive questions about how close my hometown is to Roanoke. (It’s 168 miles away, across the state line.)
Sportscasters regularly mix up the states during games for West Virginia University, Marshall University or other schools in the Mountain State. Shirts have been made to clear up the confusion, like this one worn by actor Ryan Dorsey, a native West Virginian:
Game day !!! Let's goooo #mountaineernation ! #WVU
A photo posted by dorseyryan (@dorseyryan) on Sep 5, 2015 at 1:53pm PDT
Many West Virginians encounter others on a daily basis who could use some clarification on the whole 50-state situation:
I got in a fight with our cab driver last night because he said West Virginia and Virginia are the same state. NO.
— Brittany Dulin (@Britttt0301)August 5, 2016
Important reminder that West Virginia and Virginia are two different states and have been since 1863.
— Joel Whetzel (@jmwwvu)July 11, 2016
When people tell you West Virginia and Virginia is the same thing#GrowingUpInWestVirginiapic.twitter.com/p4NZZDl9tw
— K.Dot (@tishearrie)July 3, 2016
Musician John Denver even sang a whole song about West Virginia:
Like Denver says, “life is old there, older than the trees, younger than the mountains” ― and younger than Virginia.
Spread the word: West Virginia is a state.
Editor’snote: DonaldTrumpregularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims ― 1.6 billion members of an entire religion ― from entering the U.S.