Video: In Speech to the Dark-Money-Fueled, Trump-Judges “Federalist Society,” Youngkin (Falsely) Claims the Greatest Threat to Our Democracy Comes More From “Cancel Culture” Than From “Tyrants” Like Putin

If there was any doubt about who and what Glenn Youngkin are – and that it’s completely laughable to call him a “moderate” in any way/shape/form – check out the speech he delivered yesterday evening at UVA, some “highlights” of the speech, as well as a few reactions. But first, note who Youngkin was speaking to – THIS group.

For two decades, [Leonard] Leo has been on a mission to turn back the clock to a time before the U.S. Supreme Court routinely expanded the government’s authority and endorsed new rights such as abortion and same-sex marriage. Now, as President Trump’s unofficial judicial adviser, he told the audience at the closed-door event in February that they had to mobilize in “very unprecedented ways” to help finish the job.

…

[Leo] is widely known as a confidant to Trump and as executive vice president of the Federalist Society, an influential nonprofit organization for conservative and libertarian lawyers that has close ties to Supreme Court justices. But behind the scenes, Leo is the maestro of a network of interlocking nonprofits working on media campaigns and other initiatives to sway lawmakers by generating public support for conservative judges.

The story of Leo’s rise offers an inside look into the modern machinery of political persuasion. It shows how undisclosed interests outside of government are harnessing the nation’s nonprofit system to influence judicial appointments that will shape the nation for decades.

So that’s the group – the Federalist Society (“an operation funded by dark money and designed to remake our judiciary on behalf of a distinct group of very wealthy anonymous funders…nearly 90% of Trump’s appellate judges, and both his Supreme Court justices, are members of the so-called Federalist Society. On the Supreme Court, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, Alito, Thomas? – all are members“) – that Youngkin was speaking to at UVA yesterday evening. As for what Youngkin had to say, and some reactions, see below the video.

• “It is such an honor to be in the presence of so many esteemed conservative federal judges as well who epitomize what it means to uphold the constitution instead of rewriting it.”
• “When you watch the extremism and the dysfunction in Washington these days. a reaction of discouragement – even alarm  – sometimes seems justified.”
• “…we found that a number of Democrats [actually, just two out of 69, but who’s counting? LOL] agreed…with the logic and the fairness of the position. They decided to follow the parents instead of the party line. And so on February 16th, just one month after I’d been inaugurated as the 74th governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, I signed into law bipartisan legislation resolving the mask war in favor of parents. Let’s let parents decide.”
• “The greatest threat to our democracy today comes not from tyrants abroad – but let me tell you Vladimir Putin is a tyrant – the greatest threat to our democracy [Applause]…comes comes from a growing tendency to loathe rather than listen. [Applause] Friends, it comes from a desire to bully and not persuade. Such a culture of contempt, this cancel culture is toxic to our democracy, and unless the schools that exist to teach our young people take responsibility for being a solution, our democracy will indeed be in danger.”

Now obviously, this is all complete nonsense. And, as usual, Youngkin is full of it, not to mention tissue-paper-thin intellectually speaking.  With that, here are a few reactions, including:

• VAPLAN: “So his top achievement is sowing chaos & division trying to change mask rules & ultimately changing them at same time as the ⁦@CDCgov⁩ said to?“
• The Arlington County Democratic Committee: “Governor Youngkin is more worried about cancel culture than Putin.“
• DPVA Executive Director Andrew Whitley: “The irony & hypocrisy of ⁦@GlennYoungkin criticizing Washington politics at the institution where his administration fired an employee for purely partisan reasons is incredibly tone deaf. Glenn talks this good game but his actions never follow suit.”
• Rachel Levy for Delegate: “No @GovernorVA , federalism doesn’t mean undermining local government. And ‘cancel culture’ is not the “real threat” to democracy versus autocrats like Tr*mp and Putin. My goodness.”

P.S. Also worth noting is that the audience was asked to wear masks, and many/most refused and someone loudly booed.  And Youngkin, of course, showed up with no mask, even though that is UVA policy.