Sen. Joe Manchin’s campaign months ago said that it had cut ties with a longtime sole employee who called to “hang” former President Donald Trump, but new federal filings suggest otherwise.
Charlie Collins, the only salaried staffer on the West Virginia Democrat’s campaign payroll since 2018, previously shared a political cartoon on social media depicting Uncle Sam leading Trump to a noose while writing, “Hang the convict.”
When Fox News Digital contacted the campaign about Collins’ post in mid-April, a spokesperson said he was “no longer employed” and that Manchin has no tolerance for such actions.
“Sen. Manchin has always believed that a core pillar of our democracy is civil and respectful disagreement, and he has zero tolerance for violence or threats of violence,” the spokesperson said.
But more than two months later, on June 23, Manchin’s campaign paid Collins $1,829 for political consulting services, his recently released filings show. Collins had not received cash for consulting services before this payment.
At no other point during the second quarter — which spans April through June — did Manchin’s campaign report any other salaried employee on its payroll.
In April 2020, a Collins post included a meme of Trump picking his nose while saying he was “trying to kill us all” by suggesting treatments for COVID-19 at the onset of the pandemic.
“Hey Trumpsters, have you finally figured out this idiot is trying to kill all of us?” Collins wrote. “Between his idiotic statement about the disinfectant and his press conferences promoting hydroxychloroquine, that doesn’t work, how much more evidence do Americans need to see what a complete moron this man is.”
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Fox News Digital’s Houston Keene contributed to this report.