Glenn Youngkin might not care about governing Virginia competently or non-corruptly, but he most certainly DOES care about burnishing his national political profile as a MAGA loyalist and warrior.
Evidence? So far, Youngkin’s campaigned this cycle around the country for such luminaries as: Tudor Dixon in Michigan (anti-abortion extremist and election conspiracy theorist, among other things), Paul LePage in Maine (said “the enemy right now…are people of color or people of Hispanic origin” and that no “sane people would want to allow transgender in our primary schools”; called a state legislator a “little son of a bitch, c*cks*cker”; etc.), Heidi Ganahl in Colorado (among other things, “refuses to denounce John Eastman, former CU professor and author of the fraudulent legal memo used to justify the Jan 6 plot, who has been subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 committee and by a grand jury investigating election fraud in Georgia”), Joe Lombardo in Nevada (he’s 100% anti-abortion, anti-“Red Flag Laws,” pro-“Don’t-Say-Gay” laws, anti-immigrant…), Derek Schmidt in Kansas; elections conspiracy theorist/anti-abortion-extremist/total nutjob Kari Lake in Arizona; Tim Michels – Whose Position on Abortion Is “exact mirror of the 1849 law”; Said “I don’t think [Trump] did anything wrong” on 1/6/21; Encouraged “people to take up ‘pitchforks and torches’”; Denies Climate Science; etc. – on 10/26, etc.
And the latest MAGA/Trumpist/far-right candidate Youngkin’s going to be campaigning for? That would be NY governor candidate Lee Zeldin, who Youngkin will stump for on October 31. So who is Lee Zeldin, exactly? Here are some, uh, “highlights.”
- “During Donald Trump‘s presidency, Zeldin was a staunch Trump ally. He prominently defended Trump during his first impeachment hearings in relation to the Trump–Ukraine scandal. After Trump lost the 2020 presidential election and made false claims of fraud, Zeldin voted against certification of Arizona‘s and Pennsylvania‘s electoral votes.”
- “In March 2014, Zeldin voted against the New York Dream Act, which would allow undocumented students who meet in-state tuition requirements to obtain financial aid to study at the university level.”
- “In June 2011, Zeldin voted against the Marriage Equality Act, which the Senate passed 33–29.”
- “In May 2015, Zeldin voted for the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a bill he co-sponsored, which would prohibit abortions in cases where the fetus’s probable age is 20 weeks or more, with exceptions in cases of rape, incest, or if the mother’s life was in danger. The act would also impose criminal penalties on doctors who violated the ban”
- “On September 18, 2015, Zeldin voted for the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015,[88] a bill that would defund the nonprofit organization Planned Parenthood for one year unless the organization agreed not to provide abortion services”
- “In January 2020, Zeldin joined a “friend of the court” brief demanding that the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade”
- Zeldin “has repeatedly voted against bipartisan gun safety measures that would expand criminal background checks, close dangerous loopholes, and crack down on illegal guns in our neighborhoods.” Also, “on the campaign trail, Zeldin said New York State should ‘repeal Red Flag laws’ and said people should ‘have a right to stand [their] ground.'”
- Also see Trump Acolytes Steve Bannon and Lee Zeldin Share Close Ties In Planning To Undermine Democracy; Will Lee Zeldin Pardon Trump for All New York Charges?; If Zeldin Had His Way, January 6th Committee Wouldn’t Exist; and Why is Lee Zeldin Working with The Oath Keepers, A Rightwing Militia Group?.
So yeah, that’s who supposed “moderate” (according to the stenographic, whitewashing, clueless political media) Glenn Youngkin’s going to campaign for. As former Governor/Senator George Allen always liked to say, “You can tell a lot about people by the folks they stand with.” Based on that, we can now tell a LOT – none of it good – about Glenn Youngkin!
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
