Virginia has been shining example of what happens when states turn blue: abortion rights and LGBTQ+ civil rights have been strengthened, weed decriminalized, lifetime incarceration of juveniles ended, sane gun laws enacted, and even the cost of insulin has been capped. Democrats have achieved so much that's good having won the trifecta of the state assembly, senate, and governorship, that Republicans are having to lie about how Republican they are to compete.
Case in point, Republican gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin, who has been studiously avoiding talking about key issues like guns and abortions throughout the whole campaign. He doesn't even have an "issues" page on his campaign website. He's such a blank slate, the Washington Post editorial board called him out, writing that "For Mr. Youngkin, silence on the substance of policy is a strategy." Now, they've been proved right, by Youngkin himself, in an undercover video recorded last month and released Wednesday by progressive activist Lauren Windsor, who runs an online political show called "The Undercurrent."
"I'm going to be really honest with you," Youngkin is recorded telling Windsor, who went undercover as a supporter and asked him about his commitment to curtailing abortion rights. "The short answer is in this campaign, I can't. When I'm governor and I have a majority in the House we can start going on offense. But as a campaign topic, sadly, that in fact won't win my independent votes that I have to get."
Windsor appeared on Wednesday's The ReidOut on MNBC, which showed the video and talked to the American Independent. Windsor pressed him on issues like "getting a fetal heartbeat bill here like they did in Texas, or defunding Planned Parenthood."
Youngkin told Windsor that he thinks she's "on the right path" on those issues, and that he intends to work on abortion issues he says a "majority of Virginians" support, including to "stop using taxpayer money for abortions" (which does not happen) and banning "abortions all the way up until the last week before birth" (which is also all but nonexistent in reality, but is preserved in order to save the lives of women suffering dangerous medical conditions).
"Listen, I am staunchly, unabashedly pro-life. And the abortion issue is an issue that the Democrats use to divide us," he said in the video. "And in fact there is such common ground for us to say, wait a minute, where this crazy governor and the governor before him have taken Virginia is so out of bounds, let’s start the walk back." He tells Windsor and another unnamed questioner that "you'll never hear me support Planned Parenthood. What you'll hear me talk about is actually taking back the radical abortion policies that Virginians don't want. And in fact they're the radicals, they're the radicals. And we've got to take it back."
The Undercurrent had another video shared with the American Independent, in which Youngkin explained to his supporters how important it was that he get those independent voters. "We're going after those middle 1 million voters who are, sadly, gonna decide this—have decided elections for the last 10 to 12 years in Virginia, and they've moved a bit away from us," Youngkin said in this video. "We're going to get them. We just got back a whole bunch of data today, and we're winning this group. This is the group that we have to go get."
He's going to get them by refusing to do what his losing predecessor, 2017 Republican nominee Ed Gillespie, did—run racist ads appealing to Donald Trump's anti-immigrant and racist base. Youngkin has Trump's endorsement, but he's not going to campaign on that. Even though he'll quote it. In his endorsement, Trump said "Glenn is pro-Business, pro-Second Amendment, pro-Veterans, pro-America, he knows how to make Virginia’s economy rip-roaring, and he has my Complete and Total Endorsement!"
Here's the statement from Youngkin's campaign to the Washington Post after the video surfaced: "Glenn Youngkin tells everyone he meets the same thing: He can't wait to go on offense for the people of Virginia by building a rip-roaring economy, creating more jobs with bigger paychecks, restoring excellence in education, prioritizing public safety, and making Virginia the best place in America to live, work, and raise a family." That's from Youngkin spokesman Matt Wolking, and not at all cribbed from Trump's "rip-roaring" endorsement. "This deceptively recorded audio demonstrates that Glenn Youngkin says the same thing no matter who he is talking to, unlike [Democrat] Terry McAuliffe who knowingly makes false allegations and decides what to say based on whatever poll is in front of him."
McAuliffe, who served as governor from 2014 to 2018, had his own response.
Case in point, Republican gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin, who has been studiously avoiding talking about key issues like guns and abortions throughout the whole campaign. He doesn't even have an "issues" page on his campaign website. He's such a blank slate, the Washington Post editorial board called him out, writing that "For Mr. Youngkin, silence on the substance of policy is a strategy." Now, they've been proved right, by Youngkin himself, in an undercover video recorded last month and released Wednesday by progressive activist Lauren Windsor, who runs an online political show called "The Undercurrent."
"I'm going to be really honest with you," Youngkin is recorded telling Windsor, who went undercover as a supporter and asked him about his commitment to curtailing abortion rights. "The short answer is in this campaign, I can't. When I'm governor and I have a majority in the House we can start going on offense. But as a campaign topic, sadly, that in fact won't win my independent votes that I have to get."
Windsor appeared on Wednesday's The ReidOut on MNBC, which showed the video and talked to the American Independent. Windsor pressed him on issues like "getting a fetal heartbeat bill here like they did in Texas, or defunding Planned Parenthood."
Youngkin told Windsor that he thinks she's "on the right path" on those issues, and that he intends to work on abortion issues he says a "majority of Virginians" support, including to "stop using taxpayer money for abortions" (which does not happen) and banning "abortions all the way up until the last week before birth" (which is also all but nonexistent in reality, but is preserved in order to save the lives of women suffering dangerous medical conditions).
"Listen, I am staunchly, unabashedly pro-life. And the abortion issue is an issue that the Democrats use to divide us," he said in the video. "And in fact there is such common ground for us to say, wait a minute, where this crazy governor and the governor before him have taken Virginia is so out of bounds, let’s start the walk back." He tells Windsor and another unnamed questioner that "you'll never hear me support Planned Parenthood. What you'll hear me talk about is actually taking back the radical abortion policies that Virginians don't want. And in fact they're the radicals, they're the radicals. And we've got to take it back."
The Undercurrent had another video shared with the American Independent, in which Youngkin explained to his supporters how important it was that he get those independent voters. "We're going after those middle 1 million voters who are, sadly, gonna decide this—have decided elections for the last 10 to 12 years in Virginia, and they've moved a bit away from us," Youngkin said in this video. "We're going to get them. We just got back a whole bunch of data today, and we're winning this group. This is the group that we have to go get."
He's going to get them by refusing to do what his losing predecessor, 2017 Republican nominee Ed Gillespie, did—run racist ads appealing to Donald Trump's anti-immigrant and racist base. Youngkin has Trump's endorsement, but he's not going to campaign on that. Even though he'll quote it. In his endorsement, Trump said "Glenn is pro-Business, pro-Second Amendment, pro-Veterans, pro-America, he knows how to make Virginia’s economy rip-roaring, and he has my Complete and Total Endorsement!"
Here's the statement from Youngkin's campaign to the Washington Post after the video surfaced: "Glenn Youngkin tells everyone he meets the same thing: He can't wait to go on offense for the people of Virginia by building a rip-roaring economy, creating more jobs with bigger paychecks, restoring excellence in education, prioritizing public safety, and making Virginia the best place in America to live, work, and raise a family." That's from Youngkin spokesman Matt Wolking, and not at all cribbed from Trump's "rip-roaring" endorsement. "This deceptively recorded audio demonstrates that Glenn Youngkin says the same thing no matter who he is talking to, unlike [Democrat] Terry McAuliffe who knowingly makes false allegations and decides what to say based on whatever poll is in front of him."
McAuliffe, who served as governor from 2014 to 2018, had his own response.