Day #6 of the VA GOP’s Bitter Civil War: Youngkin, Earle-Sears Appear to Throw in the Towel; WaPo Columnist Wonders If “bigotry trumps ideology in the Republican Party”

So clearly, after Glenn Youngkin and Winsome Earle-Sears yesterday both essentially threw in the towel (see below) on the intra-Republican civil war launched by Youngkin’s people against presumptive Republican LG nominee John Reid last Friday, a few things appear to be the case:

1.  As Richmond Times-Dispatch political columnist Jeff Schapiro says in his column this morning: “…how does Youngkin, who’s coming across as a priggish bully, reconcile his apparent distaste for Reid’s private life with his acceptance of Trump’s smarmy conduct? This includes Trump’s caught-on-video remark about grabbing women by their genitals, his sexual abuse of a New York writer in a posh department store dressing room and his payment of hush money to a porn star with whom he romped…In trashing Reid, he, in effect, heaps more garbage on the entire ticket. Earle-Sears, Reid and Jason Miyares, seeking a second term as attorney general, have enough to answer for with Trump’s attack on federal cash and jobs that keep Virginia’s economy strong. Should the Republican trio get wiped out, Youngkin can’t lay the blame with Trump — without accepting blame, himself.”
2.  As the WaPo headline says, “In Virginia, a gay GOP candidate is proving difficult for MAGA to accept,” as Reid “will become either an object lesson in how bigotry trumps ideology in the Republican Party, or proof positive that there is no bottom to the party’s hypocrisy.”
3. As that same WaPo article, by Marc Fisher, points out: “Reid’s online and on-air record is replete with rants that show him to be as closed-minded and exclusionary as the Republicans who now want to dump him. The Juneteenth holiday that celebrates the freeing of enslaved people is nothing but an effort by “bad guys” to “make people hate their own country.” “Taliban-esque leaders” in Congress are “purging the United States in a very un-American way” by taking down Confederate memorials. “The Democrat party in Virginia is the party of criminals … from the guy they’ve selected as the speaker of the House to the decisions they’re making … to help criminals get out,” he said, referring to the first Black speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, Del. Don Scott (Portsmouth).” So really, the issue shouldn’t be Reid’s sexuality at all, it should be his utterly noxious, extreme, offensive, far-right radical views on pretty much every topic.
4. As the Virginia Mercury reports, “In a stunning escalation of Virginia’s Republican infighting, Matt Moran — head of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC — has emerged as the central figure blamed for the widening rift between the governor and John Reid, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor.” And “In a phone interview Tuesday, [5th CD GOP Chair Rick] Buchanan went even further, telling The Mercury that Youngkin must fire Moran to salvage party unity.” Also, Loudoun County Chair Scott Pio “whose committee hosted a rally for Reid in Sterling Monday evening, suggested that Moran’s dual loyalties allowed him to shape Virginia policy while benefiting financially.” Of course, whatever you think of Matt Moran, the bottom line is that the proverbial “buck” stops with Moran’s boss – Glenn Youngkin – so if you’re going to demand that Moran be fired, you also should demand that Youngkin be fired too?
5.  Attorney General Jason Miyares continues to dodge making any comment about this entire situation, even as Gov. Youngkin and LG Earle-Sears have both weighed in. So what’s Miyares’ deal? Doesn’t want to anger is far-right, homophobic base? Other?
6.  In this article by the Virginia Mercury, it quotes “Virginia Wesleyan University professor Leslie Caughell, whose work focuses on the intersection of gender and politics” as saying: “We have that culture of ‘boys will be boys…[Susanna] Gibson (and others) didn’t get that treatment because ‘women aren’t supposed to do this’…'[Reid] knows that the rules that apply to a heterosexual man don’t apply to him’.”

As for Democrats, they are mostly staying quiet about all this intra-Republican-civil-war turmoil. Which makes perfect sense, of course, if you adhere to the belief that when your opponent is self destructing, your best move is to step back and let them do so. Of course, at some point, Abigail Spanberger and other Democrats running statewide this year will be asked about this situation, at which point their options will be either to pile on or to say something like “this is up to Virginia Republicans to resolve; not our problem.”

Meanwhile, as I wrote the other day, Youngkin publicly demanding that John Reid drop out, then not forcing him out, simply makes Youngkin look pathetic/weak – not qualities generally admired in the super-macho, hardass Trump/MAGA GOP.  So where does this leave Youngkin’s future political ambitions? Definitely not better off than they were a few days ago, that’s for sure!

John Reid has been very clear he’s not dropping out and will be the Virginia GOP Lt. Gov nominee

Seems like Governor Youngkin is starting to accept that https://t.co/kfyz7G671x

— Sam Shirazi (@samshirazim) April 29, 2025