Yesterday, Glenn Youngkin did an amazing thing for him – he got out of his “safe space” of far-right media (Fox, right-wing talk radio, etc.) and actually did an interview on CBS News. Amazing, eh? See below for the results of that interview, including:
- Asked what will happen if Roe v Wade is overturned, Youngkin dodged the question, returning to his talking point about keeping Brett Kavanaugh safe. Youngkin really, really didn’t want to talk about the SUBSTANCE of overturning Roe v Wade and taking away women’s reproductive rights.
- When pressed to talk about that substance, and not just about his deep concerns for Brett Kavanaugh, Youngkin responded with a bunch of word salad, basically: “First of all nothing changes immediately in Virginia, and what we’re going to do is work with our legislature. I’m a pro-life governor and I’ve got to work with our legislature to to see the next path, and so we’ll start those discussions; it’s going to require a cooperation between our legislators and the governor in order to get something done and we’re going to start that work.” Huh? Does anyone understand what on earth any of that means? Of course, recall that this is the same Glenn Youngkin who was caught on video “admitting that he’s lying to Virginians about his plans to defund Planned Parenthood and ban abortion” and vowing, when it comes to restricting abortion, “I’m not gonna go squishy on you, I will not go squishy.”
- Asked about the “Big Lie” and the January 6th violent/pro-Trump insurrection, Youngkin did the bare minimum, reiterating what he said a year ago, that he “[does] believe that Joe Biden was elected president of this country” (ya think?!? LOL) and that “I think what happened on January 6 was awful awful…it was a real blight on our democracy.” Great, except…he then uttered the words “I have to be honest though,” which of course is a blaring siren telling us that Youngkin’s about to be the polar opposite of “honest.” In this case, Youngkin – who in 2021 said that “President Trump represents so much of why I’m running” – started blathering about how supposedly what Virginians are “talking about is not January 6” but about “runaway inflation…gas prices,” and how this is supposedly something “the media” cares about a lot more than “the people” do. In fact, as CBS News pointed out, “Despite Youngkin’s comments, a recent CBS News poll found that most Americans — 70% — say it’s at least somewhat important to find out what happened on Jan. 6 and who was involved.” Also, regardless of whether it’s 70% or 100% of Americans who think we need to find out what happened on January 6th, it is VERY revealing of Youngkin’s warped values that his first instinct is to try to minimize the January 6th hearings – including the stunning revelations of criminality and Trump’s coup attempt and relentless/ongoing attempts to destroy our democracy, plus powerful and emotional testimony attesting to the enormous danger Trump put our democracy in and the harm he did to individuals and to the country. But, sadly, this pathetic, mealy-mouthed bulls*** from Youngkin is exactly what we’ve come to expect from him.
- On gun violence protection bill that just passed the U.S. Senate on a bipartisan vote, Youngkin dodged, saying “I haven’t studied the law in detail” (note: there were numerous, very easy-to-read summaries of the bill posted when it was first announced, so Youngkin’s clearly full of crap that he doesn’t know what’s in it). Youngkin then blathered about “school resource officers” and “school safety plans,” as well as a supposed “mental health crisis in America” (note that all countries have mental illness, but only the U.S. has a gun violence epidemic), but completely dodged talking about what he was asked about, which of course is G-U-N-S. Again, typical Youngkin…slimy, evasive, disingenuous, dishonest, etc. It’s really astounding that anyone voted for this guy.
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