Home Glenn Youngkin Video: On CNN, Jake Tapper Rips Glenn Youngkin’s Decision to Campaign for...

Video: On CNN, Jake Tapper Rips Glenn Youngkin’s Decision to Campaign for Election Denier/Extremist Kari Lake – “Until recently, I thought that standing up for democracy and the rule of law and election integrity was ALSO a Republican value.”

Unfortunately, Tapper also let Youngkin get away with a LOT of lying, bullsh*t, etc.

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lowkell
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This morning, prior to Glenn Youngkin’s appearance on Jake Tapper’s “State of the Union” show, I tweeted, “Prediction: Youngkin will do his usual, lots of b.s./lies/evasions/distortions/etc., yet @jaketapper will NOT do what @jonstewart did the other day and call them out immediately, clearly, etc.”  And for the most part, that’s exactly what happened – Youngkin flat-out lied, dodged, evaded, etc., with minimal pushback from Jake Tapper. For instance:

  • Youngkin claimed, falsely, “Decisions were made in early days of the Biden Administration to give up our energy independence, decisions made in order to encourage people to stay home and keep the economy closed.” Both of those are wild lies, of course. In the case of energy, in fact right now the U.S. is a net energy EXPORTER (see page 2 of EIA’s latest Monthly Energy Review), with U.S. oil production now near its highest point EVER, with U.S. natural gas production at its highest point EVER, and with U.S. wind and solar power output at their highest points EVER. But yeah, other than that, Youngkin’s toooootally accurate about U.S. energy independence. As for encouraging people to stay home during the height of the deadly COVID pandemic, in fact the Biden administration came in and immediately started vaccinating tens of millions of Americans so we could all get back to our lives. And no, the Biden administration did NOT “encourage people…to keep the economy closed.” That’s just a flat-out, wild lie, as evidenced by the fact that the U.S. economy is now at a 50-year low in the unemployment rate, near “full employment.” And…essentially zero pushback or correction from Jake Tapper, who simply moves on. Pathetic.
  • On the climate crisis and energy policy, Youngkin spewed b.s. about “all of the above,” claimed that it’s “common sense” to push super-expensive nuclear power, instead of what we already know works – energy efficiency, solar, wind, etc. Again, no pushback from Tapper, just…move on to the next subject.
  • And on that next subject, Youngkin completely evaded the question, “Did you talk to any transgender youth in coming up with this [bathroom] policy?”, responding “Yeah, so, we’ve had lots of interactions across the administration.” WTF? And Youngkin completely evaded Jake Tapper’s point that “the American Academy of Pediatrics says these kinds of laws about bathrooms and excluding people, ignoring their gender identity, they say…these kind of laws can increase the risk of depression, anxiety and even suicide among transgender youth; did you talk to any transgender youth when coming up with this policy?” Nothing from Youngkin on that, other than more word salad and bullshit, including that people should read his proposed policy and stop (supposedly) mischaracterizing it. Tapper then, to his credit, followed up, saying he DID read Youngkin’s proposed policy, adding, “it sounds like you’re excluding parents that might be supportive of their child going to the bathroom or joining a sports team that is in alignment with their gender identity.” Youngkin followed that with a bunch of words that really didn’t address what Jake Tapper was saying.
  • On the issue of women’s reproductive freedom/choice, Youngkin said, “I hope [the Virginia General Assembly] can deliver a bill on my desk in January that would recognize a 15-week limit where a child can feel pain.” (Note: According to this article, “There are no data that support fetal experience of pain at 15 weeks gestational age”)
  • Last but not least – and most appallingly – Youngkin excused his decision to campaign for “Big Lie” promoters, election deniers, etc. According to Youngkin, not doing so would constitute “shunning” and “excluding” people (such as Kari Lake, who Rep. Liz Cheney correctly described as “dangerous” and “extremist”). Youngkin then wildly lied, claiming that states with Republican governors have “outperformed by far states run by Democrat [sic] governors,” and insanely that Arizonans would be “much better off with Kari Lake” (who, in fact, would be a complete/unmitigated disaster). To his credit, Tapper pushed back, saying “Until recently, I thought that standing up for democracy and the rule of law and election integrity was also a Republican value. This isn’t a disagreement over tax policy; this woman doesn’t believe in legitimate elections, she says she wouldn’t have certified the election for Joe Biden…This isn’t just about like oh, we have a disagreement about education, this is about democracy.” Youngkin’s b.s. response, “This is not about January 6th…” In fact, it IS about an ongoing attempt by far-right, MAGA Republicans (starting with Donald Trump) to destroy our democracy. Period. And if Youngkin can’t understand that, he’s not fit to serve in public office, at any level.

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