WV Republican House candidate under fire for comments about Black women, Muslims

Republican candidate Chris Clagett, who is running in Berkeley County for a seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates, posted several racist posts on social media that targeted Black women and Muslims. 

Clagett is on the ballot in the 91st District in the upcoming November election. The district has seen a string of controversies involving its Republican House candidates, including a candidate arrested after making terrorist threats against sitting lawmakers. 

A lengthy list of Clagett’s social media activity is now under scrutiny. 

In January, Clagett posted on X, “Maybe because black women are the most ill-mannered, ill-behaved, loud-mouthed demographics on the face of the Earth. Does that clarify it for you … ?”  He responded to a post that said, “They always think saying I’m not doing anything means they’re not resisting arrest.”

That same month, Clagett posted on X “their children are roaming the streets,” in response to someone saying, “No black woman would willinging bring their babies to an active arrest situation.”

In an X post on Jan. 6, 2026, Clagett responded to a photo of the Confederate flag and called it “a beautiful flag compared to so many drab three horizontal or vertical bar flags.”

West Virginia Watch reached out to Clagett on Monday by phone, email and social media. He answered the phone asking for an interview later in the day, but didn’t return the second phone call.

Clagett fielded questions last week from radio hosts with Eastern Panhandle station WRNR about the social media posts. During that interview, Clagett confirmed that he posted it. 

Clagett told the radio hosts, “context is everything.” He later said the post he responded to with the words “ill-mannered” included Black women “behaving in exactly the manner I described.”

“It does represent me poorly … if I had been more accurate, I should have put liberal Black women and I should have described it that way,” Clagett said. “I was also guilty of not being even handed because the truth is the awful, white female liberals are just as bad. We’re talking about a world view and the behaviors that go with it.”

Clagett added that, “There are many Black women I admire greatly.”

There are other posts made by Clagett that were not discussed in that radio interview.

In a Facebook post in 2023, Clagett said, “I want to announce that I now identify as Trans … racial that is. As a penance for my heretofore underserved status as a privileged white male, I now identify as a Black man. May the police hunt me down.” 

West Virginia Republican Party Chair Josh Holstein declined to comment on Clagett’s comments at this time. 

Mike Pushkin, chair of the state Democratic Party, said Clagett’s social media posts include repeated references to African Americans as “savages,” and to Black women as “sheboons.”

“These statements are abhorrent and should receive universal condemnation,” Pushkin told West Virginia Watch. Pushkin also serves in the House of Delegates.

“That’s why I am calling on House Speaker Roger Hanshaw and West Virginia Republican Party Chairman Josh Holstein to state clearly whether they condemn this language,” Pushkin said. “West Virginians deserve to know where their political leaders stand when hate-filled statements like these are made by someone seeking public office. Silence on matters this serious implies consent, which is why a clear public response is warranted.”

Ann Ali, communications director for the House, said she hadn’t yet been able to speak with Hanshaw on Monday about the situation. 

“I am unfamiliar with this candidate’s language, and while context is always important, Speaker Hanshaw has never condoned hate speech,” Ali said. 

House Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, condemned Clagett’s comments on his own social media page. Hornbuckle is the first Black man elected to a floor leader position in West Virginia.

“Personally, I could care less about how many members I have in my Caucus, party or any of that because I’m never going to sit back in silence on disgusting behavior. The seat, the control, all the things that come with just don’t mean that much to me that I’m willing to allow people to be dehumanized,” Hornbuckle wrote Monday on Facebook.

“To my elected peers of all walks of life, this is beyond ‘politics.’ This spits in the face of West Virginia … the state was created by literally separating slavery and the worst behavior we’ve seen in our country,” he continued. “Don’t wait ‘til Nov. 4 to act like you care because you were power hungry and acting selfishly when these things could happen.”

Clagett also made comments online about the country’s Muslim population, responding on an X post with a photo that said, “MAGA care more about their dogs than Muslim immigrants, is that right?” In response, Clagett said, “Depends on your definition of ‘care.’ If ‘care’ means ‘to have affection for,’ then yes, we care more about our dogs.”

Clagett clarified on the Eastern Panhandle radio show that the post “was intended as an insult to conservatives. “I reposted it because I said, yes, this is accurate,” Clagett said.

“They’re not here to assimilate to enjoy the American dream,” he said.

In a separate social media post on Jan. 27, Clagett said he supported banning all Muslims from entering the West.

Clagett’s campaign website describes him as an experienced Navy leader who served as a member of the U.S. Navy Medical Corps. He retired in 2019 after 34 years of service, according to his website. Clagett’s biography says he earned a medical degree.

His political platform focuses on medical freedom from vaccinations, immigration enforcement and curriculum reform in public school.

Clagett ran unopposed in the May primary election, winning 796 votes. David Michaels, the
Democratic challenge in the race, won 435 votes.

Michaels said he was appalled by Clagett’s comments.

“I’m surprised that you know the West Virginia GOP hasn’t stepped in and said, ‘Hey, this is enough.’ We need better candidates,” Michaels said in a phone interview.

“I feel bad for the minorities that have to hear that sort of language, and it saddens me that it’s still thick. It’s still in the United States, and it’s still in West Virginia,” he said.

Berkeley County district’s controversial candidates

Del. Ian Masters, R-Berkeley, currently holds the House seat for the district. He is not seeking reelection.

Last summer, Masters denied allegations that he was responsible for an antisemitic comment made by a private Instagram account that used his name and is linked to an organization he recently led.

House Majority Leader Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock, supported Masters in the ordeal, saying there was proof that Masters did not post it. McGeehan later said that Masters gave his old phone to a person who was “basically homeless,” living with substance use disorder and very ill and that individual had posted the antisemitic comment.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey had appointed Masters to the House seat after Republican delegate-elect Joseph DeSoto, who won the November 2024 election, was arrested and accused of threatening to harm and kill lawmakers ahead of the 2025 Legislative Session.

There were also concerns about whether de Soto was truthful about his military career or if he was actually a physician.

House Republicans in January voted to vacate the seat instead of expelling de Soto, saying it was the correct way to deal with the seat since de Soto was on house arrest and never sworn in.

DeSoto had won the 2025 general election as a Republican but he further complicated the arrest fallout since he switched his party affiliation to Democratic shortly before being arrested.

The vacate move prompted a legal challenge from the state Democratic Party, who argued that the seat should have gone to Democrats due to de Soto’s party switch.

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals dismissed a challenge from the Democrats in one of their challenges over the seat. The party’s other appeal is still ongoing and will be heard by the Supreme Court this week.

Michaels had been on the Democratic list to replace de Soto before the seat was secured by the Republican Party.

He said the de Soto ordeal had inspired him to run since he thought the area, which he has called home for more than 40 years, deserved better candidates. Berkeley County is growing quickly, Michaels said, and he’s running on a platform of improving roads and instituting locality pay to keep teachers in the county.

The southern part of Berkeley County is very Republican, he noted.

“(It) looks like there’s very little vetting that’s done on the Republican side and their choice of candidates,” Michaels said. “Unfortunately, we have yet another candidate that is being lifted up by the GOP that says, ‘Hey, this is your choice,’ and that just really saddens me.”