According to a new bombshell report from Mother Jones, Republican Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin is using his own money to fund the down-ballot candidacies of “Big Lie advocates and 1/6 apologists” across the commonwealth.
Youngkin – who “refused to say” whether Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election and said he would support Trump’s candidacy in 2024 – has contributed $1 million dollars to Virginia Wins, a super PAC bankrolling the campaigns of anti-vaxxers and right-wing extremists who spread lies about vaccine safety and our electoral system.
In addition to funding conspiracy theorists, Youngkin has pandered to the former president by asking for audits of election machines in Virginia and calling “election integrity” the most important issue of his campaign.
Mother Jones: Virginia GOP Candidate Glenn Youngkin Financed a PAC That Supports 2020 Deniers and 1/6 Apologists
By: David Corn | October 21, 2021
Key Points:
- “Youngkin has been striving to have it both ways: come across as a reasonable Republican in a state Biden won by 10 points, while still embracing the endorsement he received from Donald Trump and playing footsie with Trump’s baseless claim the election was stolen by repeatedly calling for ‘election integrity’”
- “Yet in one important aspect, Youngkin has signaled his full support for the Trump conspiracy crowd: he has funneled his own personal cash into the campaigns of Big Lie advocates and 1/6 apologists.”
- “According to Virginia state campaign finance records, Youngkin kept his word: his million-dollar donation to the PAC accounts for almost all of the $1,043,500 the group had raised as of September 30. And a good chunk of this money has gone to Trump Republicans who echo Trump’s claim of fraud and who downplay the violent Trump-incited raid on Congress.”
- “The Youngkin-backed PAC has funded other local Republicans who have called for ‘election integrity’—a buzz phrase routinely used by 2020-deniers—as well as other Trumpy Republicans, including one who tweeted an anti-Semitic trope.”
- “For his part, Youngkin has purposefully tried to confuse and obfuscate. (In July, he was caught on camera saying he wanted to hide his anti-abortion views until after the election.)”
- “Though it might be tough for voters to sort out Youngkin’s rhetorical twists and turns, it’s not hard to follow the money. In that regard, the story is clear: Youngkin is financing Republicans who are promoting the former president’s election lies and supporting Trump’s attack on American democracy.”
Read the full report here.
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Published: Oct 21, 2021