See below for video and a few “highlights” (in air quotes) of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s softball, sycophantic “interview” (starting with a bunch of effusive/false praise from the interviewer along the lines of “he has emphasized his commitment to creating a more transparent and accountable government”; “he has taken his brand of optimistic, principled leadership wherever he’s gone, and we are lucky that he is here today”; “your message has really been unifying” – LOL!!!) this morning at the George W. Bush Presidential Center. But first, check out the guy (Ken Hersh) who was “interviewing” Youngkin – and specifically note his close ties to the Carlyle Group, where Youngkin was a top executive for many years. LOL
Kenneth A. Hersh (born 1963) is an American businessman and financier. He is the former chairman and CEO of NGP Energy Capital Management (NGP), a private equity firm based in Texas. He is the CEO of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas.
Energy Transfer Partners was one of Hersh’s more notable investments with NGP, netting NGP a nearly 3,000% return on investment.[1] The Carlyle Group acquired a $424 million stake in NGP Energy Capital and appointed Hersh as a senior advisor.[1]
So with that in mind, here are a few “highlights” from Youngkin’s “interview”:
- First, Youngkin falsely claimed that “during the pandemic, particularly, my predecessor [Gov. Ralph Northam] had taken an incredibly stern position on lockdowns…mandating vaccines and masks and everything else, and Virginians didn’t take to that well.” In fact, the polling at the time showed the opposite, namely that, “Overall, Northam garners 2-to-1 approval from Virginia voters for his handling of the pandemic: 64% approve, 32% disapprove…higher than his overall job approval rating of 56%.”
- Second, Youngkin falsely claimed that the Northam and McAuliffe administrations had “degraded” Virginia public education, supposedly lowered standards, not focus on things like accelerated math, etc. For a thorough rebuttal of that nonsense, see this interview with Northam’s Secretary of Education, Atif Qarni, in which Qarni explained, “Virginia has some of the most rigorous standards of learning, including in reading and mathematics” and that it’s “not accurate” that Virginia during the Northam administration watered down any standards.”
- Third, Youngkin – who has been HEAVILY about “grievance politics,” particularly the grievances of his heavily white, right-wing base, went on a riff decrying…yep, grievance politics!
There’s a lot more along these lines, but check it out for yourself – if you can stomach it – about 56 minutes before the end of the video.
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