Youngkin speaks at Liberty University convocation

Jerry Prevo, president of Liberty University, spoke to students before he introduced Youngkin, noting, “His first job was washing dishes and frying eggs at a diner in Virginia Beach.”

Prevo said Youngkin was a dedicated basketball player in high school, which led to an athletic scholarship to Rice University. He earned his engineering degree there and later went on to earn his MBA from the Harvard Business School. Youngkin then took a job at the Carlyle Group, where he spent the next 25 years, eventually becoming co-CEO.

“But let me remind you, where did he begin?” Prevo said to students. “He began washing dishes, and you may find yourself having to wash dishes before you work your way up to where you want to be.”

Youngkin first spoke openly about his faith and relationship with Jesus Christ, saying God gave him a clear knowledge through his prayer life that he was supposed to quit his job and follow God’s lead by running for governor.

Later, he said legislators must govern and serve with humility and an open hand, not a clenched fist, and that has to apply to their approach to public policy today.

“There are tough issues that we face here in the commonwealth, around the country, and sadly around the world as we see the uncalled-for violence in Ukraine. Innocent Ukrainians are murdered every day,” he said.

“And we have tough, tough issues, and the politics today seems to very simply try to divide things into two teams with a large gap in between. And so we want it to be a competition between those teams where one side wins and the other side loses. But I believe that’s zero-sum thinking. Politics is not an ‘either-or;’ there’s a moment where it can be ‘and.’”

For instance, when it comes to the issue of race, which Youngkin described as one of the most complex and challenging issues today, all American history can be taught in schools, including the good and bad parts, he said.

“And we can remove divisive concepts from the classroom, where students are taught that they’re inherently racist because of their race or religion or sex,” he said.

In January, Youngkin passed an executive order ending the use of “inherently divisive concepts,” including critical race theory, in Virginia’s public schools.

At LU on Friday, Youngkin also called for supporting law enforcement.

“Think about the sacrifice that the men and women who wear blue, brown make every day,” he said, referencing local police officers and sheriff’s deputies, “putting their lives in front of doors when danger occurs, and we can embrace, reconcile the lack of faith [and] trust between law enforcement and communities they serve. It’s not an ‘or’ moment; it’s an ‘and’ moment.”

Youngkin said people on the far left want to silence voices on the right and want to cancel conservative speakers on college campuses.

“They want to silence voices who disagree with them, impugning motives claiming the mantle of science, assuming morality that’s superior. They do it in the name of tolerance and yet they are actively spreading intolerance. There should be an ‘and’ moment,” he said. “We can protect everyone’s right to free speech and we can support academic freedom on campus; we can do both.”

He said it’s at this divisive time in history Virginians must remember it’s not the volume of your voice but the strength of your argument that matters.

“We can love without compromising our convictions and we must do both. We must love and hold steadfast to our values. It’s time that we demonstrate both,” he said.

He said Virginians are optimistic, but the divisiveness of the past few years and the harsh reality of the difficulties of the past two years during the pandemic and social unrest have revealed what it means to believe in an America that was founded by imperfect men in the pursuit of a more perfect union.

“But unfortunately, that view of America is not widely held by everyone,” he said. “And in fact, values like hard work, loyalty, love of our country are under attack. They’re under attack, both in the rhetoric and also in bad policies. There are voices within Virginia and within America that don’t believe that America is a force for good. I disagree. I disagree with every ounce of my being. And so it’s up to us to lean into our shared values for such a time as this.”

Later, Robert Hurt, dean of the School of Law and a former U.S. congressman representing Virginia’s 5th District, asked Youngkin a few questions, including about the rising prices for businesses and consumers.

“One of the consequences of the virus and the pandemic obviously has been that we’ve seen schools closed and businesses suffer over the last two years. And as we’re now thinking about how you can help strengthen the economy, [how can we] allow our citizens to keep more of what they make? Is that an issue that will be dealt with in a special session that’s coming up?” he asked.

Youngkin said the number one directive from a General Assembly special session is to deliver a budget. He said it will take bipartisan leadership to do that and he believes they will do it by April 4, the date he’s called back lawmakers for such a session.

“And in that budget, I firmly believe we have a unique opportunity and that is to reduce taxes on Virginians,” he said. “So when you see the food prices in the grocery aisle go up 10%, 15%, 20% year over year, gas prices going up. We’ve seen over and over again that the cost of living is outstripping Virginians’ ability to afford it and yet we have a record surplus in Richmond. In fact, we’re expecting $14 billion or more in government receipts than what was expected. So there’s a great chance for us to cut taxes and return $5 billion of that to Virginia and invest $9 million in education, law enforcement and mental health.”