Check this out from The American Independent:
Virginia’s Republican nominee for governor reportedly told supporters at a fundraising event in June that he couldn’t reveal his true position on abortion rights until after he’s elected.
His reasoning: He needs the independent vote to ensure his victory in November.
Glenn Youngkin, the venture capitalist running as a Republican in Virginia’s gubernatorial race against former Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, made the comments to Lauren Windsor, who runs The Undercurrent, a self-described “grassroots political web-show” funded by the liberal advocacy group American Family Voices.
The American Independent obtained the video footage from Windsor, who also shared it with MSNBC.
In the video – see below – Youngkin is asked about his views on abortion and whether he would “make sure we’re defending the unborn…whether that’s, you know, getting a fetal heartbeat bill here like they did in Texas or defunding Planned Parenthood.” Youngkin’s response:
“Let’s just start, let’s just start…you’re on the right track…We gotta stop using taxpayer money for abortions and we got to stop allowing abortions all the way up until the last week before birth…and THIS we can get done...You know, it’s interesting; while the abortion issue is one that can…Listen, I am staunchly, unabashedly pro-life. And the abortion issue is an issue that the Democrats use to divide us. 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.”
Then, someone asks Youngkin, “Can we take it to the abortionists though?” Here’s where it really gets interesting, as Youngkin discusses his calculated, cynical political strategy of deceiving voters:
“I’m going to be really honest with you – 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. So you’ll never hear me support Planned Parenthood; what you’ll hear me talking 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…I’m not gonna go squishy on you, I will not go squishy. But I gotta win in order to stay in the [inaudible]…”
Nice, eh? Some reaction to this story:
- Terry McAuliffe: “Glenn Youngkin wants to defund Planned Parenthood and ban abortion. If that wasn’t bad enough, he’s now admitted he’s lying to voters about his radical views. Virginians deserve to know: what other right-wing positions is Glenn Youngkin hiding from us?”
- Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards “accused Youngkin of ‘tricking Virginians into thinking he’s reasonable — when it’s clear that he stands with Donald Trump and the extremists of the Republican Party…This should terrify women who care about making their own health care decisions and doing what is best for their families’.”
- Virginia Democrats: “@GlennYoungkin was caught on video admitting that he’s lying to Virginians about his plans to defund planned parenthood and ban abortion. By his very own admission, Virginians should not trust a single word out of Youngkin’s mouth.”
So basically, as we’ve been saying for weeks now, Youngkin is a right-wingnut on issue after issue, but he’s hiding his views from the Virginia electorate because he knows that if he actually said his views out loud, he’d lose the election – badly. Of course, the fact that he’s such a brazenly cynical and calculating politician is reason enough for NOBODY to vote for him…no matter what your views on this issue or any other.
Oof this is a disaster for Youngkin. https://t.co/i1fCHSg2tH
— Zach Hudson (@zach_hudson) July 7, 2021
Glenn Youngkin wants to defund Planned Parenthood and ban abortion. If that wasn’t bad enough, he's now admitted he's lying to voters about his radical views.
Virginians deserve to know: what other right-wing positions is Glenn Youngkin hiding from us?https://t.co/aBphhb1HeW
— Terry McAuliffe (@TerryMcAuliffe) July 7, 2021
BREAKING: @GlennYoungkin was caught on video admitting that he's lying to Virginians about his plans to defund planned parenthood and ban abortion.
By his very own admission, Virginians should not trust a single word out of Youngkin's mouth.https://t.co/EOWPOaGGta
— Virginia Democrats (@vademocrats) July 7, 2021