There are a lot of things I hate about Glenn Youngkin. Like…a lot. Narrowing it down to ten was tough. But here we got, a fast and dirty list of ten things I hate about Glenn Youngkin and why. But just in case you were wondering, no, I’m not going to actually fall in love with him at the end. Gross.
10) He’s Lying About Being Good At Basketball
You might have seen Glenn Youngkin’s ad about how he got a scholarship to play basketball in college and that was the only way he was able to afford college and make something of himself. (No, I will not link to it because I’m not trying to give him free clicks.) But actually, he went to Norfolk Academy, a private school in Norfolk, VA. The tuition there was about the same as it was at Rice University (Glenn’s alma mater) at the time Youngkin attended. So, he didn’t need the scholarship to afford college like he claims in the ad.
But more than that, he wasn’t even a good player! He averaged just one point a game! I have no evidence to back this up, but it seems like his family was pulling an Aunt Becky before it was cool. Check Glenn’s stats here.
9) He Has a Luxury Horse Farm That He Uses To Get a Tax Break
Of course Glenn Youngkin owns a luxury horse farm. He and Mitt Romney have that vibe in common. But more than that, he uses his farm to save over $150,000 in taxes, a 95% tax cut. But in order to qualify for that tax cut, you have to be using the land for conservation efforts, not commercial purposes. But I’m pretty sure they aren’t “dedicated to the well-being and training of equine athletes” for free, and this letter to the editor writer agrees with me. Whatever is going on here, it seems clear that Glenn Youngkin is once again gaming the system for his own personal gain. Not a great quality in a Governor, if you ask me.
8) Glenn Youngkin Is The Reason We Have To Buy Taylor Swift’s Music Again
When he was co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, they “financially backed the 2019 sale of Swift’s masters to Ithaca Holdings,” the company that was owned by Scooter Braun at the time. As co-CEO, Glenn would have been involved in that decision, so he is literally the reason we’re all having to re-buy Taylor’s albums so she can get paid. #WeStandWithTaylor against Glenn Youngkin, and you should too.
7) He’s Just a Rich Guy Who Thinks He Can Buy An Election
Glenn Youngkin is following in the footsteps of lots of older, rich, white dudes who think they can just buy elections because calling yourself “Governor” for the rest of your life sounds like it would be cool. (See also Donald Trump, Mitt Romney, and many others.) When you’re worth $440 million, I guess you have to find something to spend your money on. I’d probably choose to give it to charity, but you do you, Glenn.
6) He’ll Decimate The Economy By Attempting to Eliminate the Income Tax
Rich guys gonna rich guy, I guess. One of Glenn Youngkin’s main policy priorities is to help his rich friends get richer by doing everything he can to eliminate the income tax. During the primary, he said he would eliminate it entirely. Then he said he would cut the tax significantly, but not eliminate it completely. If we actually went through with this disastrous plan, Virginia would lose 2.5 million jobs and $218 billion in revenue used to pay for schools, roads, pandemic recovery, and much, much more. How about we don’t do that and instead make corporations and the ultra-wealthy (like Glenn) pay their fair share so the rest of us can have nice things like paid family and medical leave and teacher pay increases? Just a thought.
5) He’s Responsible For Cuts That Led To Elder Abuse At Nursing Homes.
When he was at Carlyle Group, they bought HCR ManorCare, a nursing home chain with 281 facilities in 30 states. But of course, Carlyle wasn’t suddenly interested in caring for old people and making sure the end of their life is fun, fulfilling, and safe. No, instead Carlyle, with Glenn’s help, extracted $1.3 billion dollars from the company for investors while leaving the facilities so short staffed that residents regularly soiled themselves, patients suffered broken bones, and brain hemorrhages. Glenn Youngkin would literally abuse your grandma if it could make him a dollar. I think we can all agree that kind of “leader” is not one we need here in Virginia.
4) Glenn Youngkin Won’t Hold Cops Accountable When They Brutalize Our Communities
Though he is light on most of his policy positions (because he has no idea what he is doing), Glenn Youngkin has actually come out and said he would not support banning qualified immunity. Qualified immunity shields bad cops from being held accountable for their actions when they murder people in the street for no reason. Cops are supposed to protect and serve, and it seems like if they are actually dedicated to protecting and serving our community, they wouldn’t mind holding the bad ones accountable when they fail in their mission.
3) He Not Only Believes, But Perpetuates, the Big Lie.
For months, Glenn Youngkin refused to say whether or not he thought President Biden legitimately won the election. Then he finally admitted that President Biden did actually win, but now he won’t say if he would have voted to certify the election results on January 6 if he had been a member of Congress. Now he’s going on about how Virginia needs to audit our election results, but uh, Glenn, maybe you don’t know, but we definitely already do that.
It’s kind of funny to make fun of this, but actually, it’s really dangerous. We can’t have a Governor who either is so deluded that he really doesn’t trust our free and fair election results or, worse, one who will exploit mistrust and undermine our democracy for his own personal gain.
2) He Lied About His Position On Abortion
I’ve written about this before, but it makes me so mad every time I think about it. Glenn Youngkin really, truly, thought he could get away with winning this election without ever talking about abortion. He was even caught on tape saying that yes, he would support a bill like Texas’s abortion ban, but that he can’t talk about it because he might lose the election. Hell yes he would lose the election if people knew that. So I’ll never stop screaming it from the rooftops because Glenn Youngkin is dangerous for all of us and will make it harder for us to make decisions about whether and when to become a parent.
1) He Will Make Us Just Like Texas or Florida When It Comes to Pandemic Response
And finally, the number one reason why I hate Glenn Youngkin: He will literally kill people by repealing mask mandates and vaccine requirements. We all know that masks and vaccines are the way out of this pandemic. But until kids under the age of 12 are eligible for vaccines and more adults get their heads out of their ass and actually get the shot, it’s not over. Glenn Youngkin would have unvaccinated children running around maskless at school. I don’t know about you, but I’m not trying to die, so thanks but no thanks, Glenn.
So there we have it 10 reasons Glenn Youngkin is not it for Virginia. I’ll be going to the polls to vote for Terry McAuliffe, Hala Ayala, Mark Herring on November 2nd. But early voting has started now, so make sure you are registered to vote by October 12 and then go to the polls on Election Day, vote early in person, or vote by mail. And don’t forget to check out our Progressive Voters Guide to see who else is on your ballot.