Clinton Apologizes To West Virginia Voter For Comments On Coal Country

UNITED STATES - MAY 2: Protesters gather in the rain as presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tours a health and wellness center in Williamson, W. Va., on Monday, May 2, 2016. Several dozen protesters stood in the r... UNITED STATES - MAY 2: Protesters gather in the rain as presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tours a health and wellness center in Williamson, W. Va., on Monday, May 2, 2016. Several dozen protesters stood in the rain to voice their opposition to Hillary Clinton's visit to coal country. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call via AP Images) MORE LESS
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Hillary Clinton on Monday attempted to clarify past comments about putting coal companies “out of business” when confronted by a voter on the campaign trail in West Virginia.

While discussing plans to create jobs in the renewable energy industry during a CNN town hall in March, Clinton said, “We’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.”

When Clinton arrived in Williamson, West Virginia, on Monday, she was greeted by protesters chanting, “Go home,” according to the New York Times. And during an event at a wellness center, West Virginia resident Bo Copley asked Clinton to explain her March comment.

“What I said was totally out of context from what I meant because I have been talking about helping coal country for a very long time,” Clinton said, according to NBC News. “What I was saying is that the way things are going now, we will continue to lose jobs. That’s what I meant to say.”

Clinton said that she was “a bit sad and sorry that I gave people an excuse to be angry at me because that’s not what I said at all,” according to the New York Times.

She also acknowledged that her comment could hurt her in the region.

“Because of the misstatement that I made, which I apologized for when I saw how it was being used,” Clinton said, according to the Times, “I know that my chances are pretty difficult, to be honest.”

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