Republican nominee for Governor of Virginia goes completely off the rails
Even though the former guy lost the election, he’s still very much the face of the GOP, and we should work to make sure it stays that way if we want to not only keep winning elections, but make sure Donald Trump and his Republican enablers are held accountable for their efforts to erode democracy. After President Bush left the White House in 2009, he largely remained out of the public eye and the GOP was able to rebrand, whitewashing much of the disastrous legacy that the Bush administration had in both the Middle East and promoting authoritarian tendencies. It was enough for them to retake the House just two years after they tanked the economy in the Great Recession as well as a number of state legislatures and governorships – a movement that Trump actively helped foment years before he was even thought of as the party’s presidential nominee.
While Trump and his allies have used the Big Lie as a grifting opportunity to target his most gullible supporters, it’s something that the new crop of Republican candidates are already beginning to regret. The Big Lie has also become the perfect wedge to use to split the GOP between Trump loyalists who rarely turn out if Trump himself isn’t on the ballot and the typical Republican voter. Among the candidates already coming to regret what they’ve said is Republican Glenn Youngkin who is running for governor in Virginia this year.
Before Youngkin was the nominee, he tried to please everyone with his position on the 2020 election – rightfully saying no fraud happened but refusing to say if President Biden’s win was legitimate, and he even teased that it was possible for Donald Trump to be reinstated by saying the legal process was unclear on the topic. Now that his opponent, Terry McAuliffe is attacking him for these comments, Youngkin is denying he ever said it – despite the fact that he’s participating in an ‘election integrity’ rally this weekend at Liberty University. However Republicans answer this question can and should hurt them with voters – since it’s a reminder to people of exactly who they are. Let’s do all we can to put Terry McAuliffe and Virginia Democrats over the top in 2021.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making