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Bette Midler Apologizes for Calling West Virginians ‘Poor, Illiterate and Strung Out’

The Divine Miss M Bette Midler apologized to West Virginia residents for what she called a “poor, illiterate, strung out” tweet about Sen. Joe Manchin.
Midler shared her frustration with Manchin after the Democratic senator announced he would not support President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Act.
Midler originally tweeted “What #JoeManchin, who represents a population smaller than Brooklyn, has done to the rest of America, who wants to move forward, not backward, like his state, is horrible.”
What #JoeManchin, who represents a population smaller than Brooklyn, has done to the rest of America, who wants to move forward, not backward, like his state, is horrible. He sold us out. He wants us all to be just like his state, West Virginia. Poor, illiterate and strung out.
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) December 20, 2021
“He sold us out,” Midler wrote. “He wants us all to be just like his state, West Virginia. Poor, illiterate and strung out.”
There was swift backlash and Middler later tweeted an apology.
“I apologize to the good people of WVA for my last outburst,” she tweeted in part. “I’m just seeing red.”
I apologize to the good people of WVA for my last outburst. I’m just seeing red; #JoeManchin and his whole family are a criminal enterprise. Is he really the best WV has to offer its own citizens? Surely there’s someone there who has the state’s interests at heart, not his own!
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) December 20, 2021
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