DEBATE FACT CHECK: Daniel Gade’s History of Racially Insensitive Rhetoric

From the Democratic Party of Virginia:

DEBATE FACT CHECK: Daniel Gade’s History of Racially Insensitive Rhetoric

This weekend, Senator Mark Warner will debate challenger Daniel Gade at Virginia’s largest Historically Black college, Norfolk State University. But here’s the truth: Daniel Gade’s history of racially insensitive rhetoric is wrong for Virginia.

Take a look at Daniel Gade blowing Donald Trump a kiss just last week:

Daniel Gade’s Support for Trump’s Handling of COVID-19:

• Black Americans have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and the President’s blatant disregard for public health and public safety. Yet Daniel Gade calls Trump’s leadership “great.” 

Daniel Gade’s Comments on Racism: 

• When asked if racism represented a threat to domestic security, Daniel Gade said in his own words: “Racism is an internal belief; it does not become a threat to domestic security unless acted upon.
• He also doesn’t believe the Confederate flag is a racist symbol.

Gade’s Thoughts on Peaceful Protests: 

• On kneeling for the National Anthem, Gade said the movement is not about free speech, but rather “it’s about dismantling fundamentally what our country stands for, and I hate that part.”
• At the same time, Daniel Gade has said he’s a supporter of right-wing militia groups, but prefers to call them “patriot groups.”
• And his personal Facebook page – DM Gade – is a member of a group called “#2AStrong In Virginia: Sanctuary County Movement,” which contains numerous posts praising Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse.

Gade Opposes Key Police Reforms: 

• Gade has called banning chokeholds “ridiculous” and said that without access to chokeholds, police officers are “going to reach for lethal means.”

Gade’s Comments on Education and Diversity are Downright Offensive: 

• On diversity in schools, Gade said, “[Democrats] really think that one of the important functions of the school is to mix everybody together and make sure that the, you know, that every child is exposed to every alternative lifestyle and every other race and every other level of performance and older kids and younger kids and all of that. I think that’s wrong.”
• He even said, “I don’t think we have any need for a Federal Department of Education.”
• Gade called public schools in America “nasty,” “failing,” and a “recipe for continued degradation across society.”
• The student debt crisis has disproportionately hurt Black borrowers in America. But Daniel Gade called any type of student debt relief a “terrible idea.”

And the kicker…

• Daniel Gade believes Democrats are putting Planned Parenthoods in African American communities to “kill more Black babies.”

Daniel Gade’s comments are beyond the pale, and they cross the line of what is offensive to residents of the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

Senator Mark Warner believes that the American ideals of liberty and justice belong to all people. He is committed to passing the Justice in Policing Act and working to build an America that respects and provides opportunity for all.

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