Story at a glance:
- Democratic incumbent Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Republican challenger Glenn Youngkin are tied at the polls.
- The Lincoln Project organized four tiki torch-wielding “Trump supporters” to reenact the 2017 Unite the Right rally in front of Youngkin’s tour bus in Charlottesville.
- McAuliffe’s campaign condemns the Lincoln Project’s tactic.
Virginia’s gubernatorial election over the Halloween weekend was thrilling. Both Democratic incumbent Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Republican challenger Glenn Youngkin, backed by former President Trump, are tied at the polls.
On Saturday, the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump coalition, organized four tiki torch-wielding “Trump supporters” to reenact the 2017 Unite the Right rally to pose in front of Youngkin’s tour bus in Charlottesville.
The Republican group against Trump put on the political stunt to remind voters of Youngkin’s lack of condemnation of that day, The Guardian reported.
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“The demonstration was our way of reminding Virginians what happened in Charlottesville four years ago, the Republican party’s embrace of those values, and Glenn Youngkin’s failure to condemn it,” The Lincoln Project said.
Former forward on the Rice University basketball team and former CEO of his private-equity firm, Youngkin, who has never entered politics before, is locked in a tight race with McAuliffe for Virginia. The state voted in favor of now-President Biden in 2020 and Hillary Clinton in 2016 over Trump.
President Biden, Vice President Harris, and former President Obama have all rallied support for McAuliffe’s reelection – seeing it as a harbinger for 2022’s midterm elections, The Guardian reports.
McAuliffe’s team, which had nothing to do with the Lincoln Project photo opportunity, condemned the move, tweeting, “What happened today in Charlottesville is disgusting and distasteful and the McAuliffe campaign condemns it in the strongest terms. Those involved should immediately apologize.”
“We will continue to hold Glenn Youngkin accountable,” the Lincoln Project said. “If he will denounce Trump’s assertion that the Charlottesville rioters possessed ‘very fine’ qualities, we’ll withdraw the tiki torches. Until then, we’ll be back.”
Last week, the civil trial began to determine if the Charlottesville riot was a cover for white supremacists to engage in racial violence.
The organizers’ leaked messages, which disparage Black and Jewish people and mentioned driving over counter-protesters, are up for consideration as evidence in court.
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