ICYMI: Glenn Youngkin Pays Trump Extremists for their Votes

Glenn Youngkin wants to court moderate voters while securing his Trump-loving, big-lie-believing base. Glenn believes he can have his cake and eat it too. Glenn should know that you can’t do that when you’re getting endorsed by Trump himself and donating $1,000,000  to political action committees who support candidates who attended the January 6 rally and believe that President Biden is not the legitimately elected president.  

“Glenn Youngkin has been using his personal fortune to buy votes and worm his way into the governor’s seat. But now he’s using that money to bring conspiracy theorists and insurrectionists into office with him by donating over $1,000,000 to a political action committee that supports candidates who believe the big lie,” Vanessa Clinton, Press Secretary at Progress Virginia said. “You can’t portray yourself as a moderate while paying for the lawyers of dangerous domestic terrorists who stormed the capitol and attempted to undermine the very foundation of our democracy.  As the saying goes, ‘you get what you pay for,’ and in this case, Glenn Youngkin is paying for the former president’s election lies, extreme views, and attacks on our democracy.” 

Virginia GOP Candidate Glenn Youngkin Financed a PAC That Supports 2020 Deniers and 1/6 Apologists  [Mother Jones, David Corn]

“But throughout the tight race that pits him against former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Youngkin has been striving to have it both ways: come across as a reasonable Republican in a state Biden won by 10 points, while still embracing the endorsement he received from Donald Trump and playing footsie with Trump’s baseless claim the election was stolen by repeatedly calling for ‘election integrity.’”

“In August, Youngkin, the former CEO of the Carlyle Group, announced he would pump $1 million into Virginia Wins, a political action committee that supports down-ballot Republican candidates in the state. According to Virginia state campaign finance records, Youngkin kept his word: his million-dollar donation to the PAC accounts for almost all of the $1,043,500 the group had raised as of September 30. And a good chunk of this money has gone to Trump Republicans who echo Trump’s claim of fraud and who downplay the violent Trump-incited raid on Congress.”

“The Youngkin-backed PAC has funded other local Republicans who have called for “election integrity”—a buzz phrase routinely used by 2020-deniers—as well as other Trumpy Republicans, including one who tweetedan anti-Semitic trope.”

“Though it might be tough for voters to sort out Youngkin’s rhetorical twists and turns, it’s not hard to follow the money. In that regard, the story is clear: Youngkin is financing Republicans who are promoting the former president’s election lies and supporting Trump’s attack on American democracy.”