As we know by now, Glenn Youngkin isn’t exactly the most honest guy in the world. For instance, see Video: Speaking to a Far-Right Radio Host in Georgia Yesterday, Glenn Youngkin Spewed Lies and Distortions with Nearly Every Word That Came Out of His Mouth from August, or It’s a Day Ending in the Letter “Y,” Which Means Glenn Youngkin’s LYING, This Time About U.S. “energy independence” from June, or…a million other examples, where what Youngkin says isn’t just stuff most of us *disagree* with, it’s flat-out FALSE.
So, this morning, speaking to Bloomberg News, Youngkin was back to his old ways, spewing falsehood after falsehood. And, of course, the journalist interviewing him did NOT stop the interview, did NOT correct his lies in real time, did not – in short – do what journalists are supposed to do. But sadly, we’ve come to expect that level of sycophancy, stenography and spinelessness from most U.S. political “journalists” (in air quotes). See below for the audio of Youngkin’s interview, followed by ten of his biggest whoppers. It’s really amazing how he gets away with this crap without everyone just laughing in his face or whatever…
Whopper #1: Youngkin claims that over the last two years, he worked on “bring[ing] people together around common sense solutions to pressing issues.” To the contrary, Youngkin’s been highly partisan and divisive, with – thank goodness – the Democratic-controlled State Senate blocking the vast majority of his worst, most destructive ideas.
Whopper #2: Youngkin strongly implies that inflation – which actually is near Fed targets, around 3.2% at the moment, which is waaaaayyy down from where it was due to pandemic-related supply-chain issues around the world – is not just out of control (it’s not at all!), but somehow President Joe Biden’s fault (inflation in 2021 and 2022 was a WORLDWIDE phenomenon, so obviously wasn’t about any one specific country’s macroeconomic policy). Presumably Glenn Youngkin knows all these things, but simply doesn’t care about the facts, or cares MORE about pushing his b.s. narrative than about the facts…
Whopper #3: On the Virginia economy, Youngkin continues to claim credit for something he has essentially nothing to do with, while of course giving President Biden and Congressional Democrats zero credit, and also failing to call out his own party for obstructing much of the progress we’ve seen. As for Youngkin claiming credit for Virginia’s strong economy, it’s absurd, given that Youngkin only has been governor for about two years, and that he’s gotten very little passed through the General Assembly that might possibly have impacted our economy (plus, it would take a while for those policies to play out, even if they had been passed, which they haven’t been).
Whopper #4: Youngkin claims he ran mostly not on “platitudes” but on specific policy proposals, but…did we all watch the same 2021 gubernatorial campaign, in which Youngkin ran millions of dollars of ads burnishing his (false) images as some sort of “nice guy,” “normal suburban basketball dad,” etc, while having his surrogates (and himself as well) spew out b.s. right-wing talking points (e.g., “CRT!”)?
Whopper #5: Youngkin falsely claims that “red” states have “common sense policies” that “work,” while “blue” states don’t. That’s just flat-out false.
Whopper #6: Youngkin tries to argue that his proposal for a 15-week abortion ban (which anyone with half a brain knew wouldn’t stop at 15 weeks if Republicans got a governing “trifecta”) was NOT a mistake. In fact, it was a mistake both in terms of policy AND politics. Youngkin also lies that the “progressive left” (whatever that is) wants abortion to be legal “up through AND INCLUDING birth.” In fact, that claim has been fact checked many times (e.g., see here, here and here)…and found to be FALSE (“PolitiFact has rated multiple statements making similar claims about Democrats supporting the execution of children False.”)
Whopper #7: Youngkin keeps trying to blame redistricting for the fact that Republicans lost on November 7th. In fact, the districts were drawn in part by a Republican partisan “special master,” so who on earth knows where Youngkin gets that from. Also, Youngkin whines about how much money Democrats spent letting voters know about the risks to women’s reproductive freedom if Republicans got a governing “trifecta,” while completely ignoring the fact that Youngkin himself got huge amounts of money from far-right, mostly out-of-state billionaires to try to buy himself that “trifecta” and roll back women’s rights.
Whopper #8: Youngkin continues his bashing of higher education, claiming that universities are supposedly suppressing/”cancel[ing]” conservative/right-wing views, etc. In fact, as this Vox article found, “my colleague Matt Yglesias and I surveyed the research on the topic and found little support for the claim that free speech rights are seriously imperiled at American universities.” But wait, there’s more:
“In my piece, published earlier this month, I examined three data sources that I argued supported the view that incidents of speech by students or professors being suppressed are relatively rare. When they do happen, these incidents often target liberals and leftists, despite the breathless media coverage of conservative speakers being run off campuses. Yglesias looked at polling on student attitudes toward free speech and found little evidence that they were particularly hostile to free expression.”
Of course, this is another one of those articles of faith on the right, and god forbid Youngkin (who is relentlessly focused on pandering to the Trumpist/MAGA/right-wing “base”) question any of those?
Whopper #9: Youngkin tries to reconcile the fact that, when he was a top executive at the Carlyle Group, he championed diversity and “ESG,” arguing, “when you actually embrace a lot of the basic inputs of diversity of thought, lowering carbon footprint, thinking about how to save energy, trying to increase efficiency, you just get better outcomes.” Yet now, Youngkin claims that these things are all TERRIBLE because…times have changed, and that “ESG has migrated totally out of bounds…it became a religion.” It has? How, specifically? Who knows. Instead, cue a bunch of “straw men,” red herrings, references to “common sense” (defined as right-wing policies he favors) etc. from Youngkin.
Whopper #10: Youngkin claims that America “cannot withstand another four years of a Biden presidency,” followed by series of MASSIVE lies on the specifics of why he argues this. So…America can’t withstand decades-low unemployment rates, inflation back down to 3.2%, massive investment in America’s infrastructure and technology bases, rapid growth in U.S. energy production, a revitalization of NATO and of our country’s image around the world, etc, etc? Youngkin would rather go back to the Trump disaster, which would be FAR worse in a second term, as Trump’s made it crystal clear he wants to be a dicftator? Apparently so, as Youngkin refuses to weigh in against Trump, Trumpist authoritarianism, threats to American democracy, etc. Youngkin also refuses to make an endorsement of another Republican presidential candidate not named Trump, until possibly after “Super Tuesday,” when most likely Trump will have clinched the Republican nomination. Pathetic.
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