Even canines are sinking their teeth into politics these days.
The crowd at the Republican National Convention was treated to a paws-itively precious display Tuesday night when West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice brought out his sidekick Babydog — a hefty pooch regarded by those in the know as one of the country’s most powerful political allies.
The 4-year-old English bulldog trotted to the podium to chants of “Babydog! Babydog!” as her proud owner looked on, video footage of the event showed.
When the pampered 62-pound celebrity was settled into a comfy chair of her own, Justice turned to the riled-up crowd to impart some advice from his top aide.
“Now, Babydog’s got a prediction for everybody here” Justice — who is hoping to snag outgoing Democrat Joe Manchin’s Senate seat in November — told the onlookers.
“Babydog says we’ll retain the House, the majority in the House. We’re going to flip the United States Senate! And overwhelmingly we are going to elect Donald J. Trump and JD Vance in November,” the multi-millionaire coal baron said to the sounds of whistles and cheers.
Babydog also delighted her fans throughout the night by being wheeled around the convention floor in a yellow wagon, complete with a water bowl for the in-demand pooch.
“I enjoyed meeting so many of you at the @GOPconvention! Thank you for the treats, the pets, and all the photos!” Babydog thanked her public on her official X account.
She gave a special shoutout to South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, writing, “I can spot a bulldog man a mile away, and next time, I hope he gets to bring his bulldog, Mac!”
Babydog’s RNC gig was hardly her first time in the limelight, as she is frequently seen alongside Gov. Justice at the West Virginia statehouse and other official events.
Babydog — who will turn 5 in October — was gifted to Justice and his wife by their children on Christmas Eve 2019, the governor told the Washingtonian.
She got her name thanks to an adorable gaffe from the couple’s grandson.
“He’d just turned 2, he was talking pretty good, but he had no earthly idea what the word ‘puppy’ meant,” Justice explained.
When the little boy lost sight of the ambling pup, he cried out “‘Where’d that babydog go?’”
“I knew right then. I said, ‘We’re gonna name her ‘Babydog,’” Justice said.
Babydog morphed into a political power player thanks in part to the COVID-19 pandemic: In early 2021, she stole the show at her owner’s scaled-back second inauguration, WV Public Broadcasting reported at the time.
That summer, she was also the face of “Do it for Babydog,” Justice’s vaccine sweepstakes that encouraged West Virginians to get their COVID jabs in order to win swanky prizes.
She even wagged back when actress Bette Midler dismissed West Virginians as “poor, illiterate and strung out” by proudly displaying her derriere on the statehouse floor while Justice told Midler to “kiss [Babydog’s] heine!”
These days, Justice’s campaign team sells Babydog merch, including T-shirts, mugs and koozies.
A few years into the bulldog’s reign, even the most cynical on both sides of the aisle have had to concede to her star power.
“Make no mistake, Jim Justice is not popular because of Babydog, but Babydog does make him more popular,” Bill Bissett, a political strategist who heads the West Virginia Manufacturers Association, told the Washingtonian.
“It’s actually been joked about in political circles that the governor gets an extra ten points [on his approval rating] because of her,” he added.
Though it could be argued that Justice — who was elected as a Democrat in 2016 before defecting to the Republican Party — is not exactly at home in either camp, Babydog gives the 6’7” multimillionaire a humane edge.
“People think, ‘Well, the guy loves this dog and takes it with him everywhere he goes, so he can’t be that bad,’” Democratic strategist Mike Plante shrugged to the Washingtonian.
A couple weeks before her RNC debut, Babydog’s place in West Virginia history was cemented with a tribute on a new mural under the state Capitol dome, in which an English bulldog can be seen lounging in the grass alongside Appalachian folk musicians.
“They wanted to put a dog in and, well, had to pick some kind of dog, you know, so they picked an English bulldog,” Justice said of the mural. “A long, long, long time ago and everything before we ever really became a country, the English were in charge, and everything seemed kind of fitting, you know?”
For now, Babydog gets lugged around by a member of Justice’s state security detail. The governor promised Fox News Digital, however, that she will “absolutely” make the trip to Washington, DC, if he is elected to the Senate.
If that’s the case, perhaps Babydog has playdates with exiled White House dog Commander in her future — she could at least teach him a few manners.
With Post wires