Republican Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin on Friday steered clear of a reply to comments from former President Donald Trump about him.
“Young Kin (now that’s an interesting take. Sounds Chinese, doesn’t it?) in Virginia couldn’t have won without me,” Trump wrote on Truth Social,
“I Endorsed him, did a very big Trump Rally for him telephonically, got MAGA to Vote for him – or he couldn’t have come close to winning. But he knows that, and admits it. Besides, having a hard time with the Dems in Virginia – But he’ll get it done!” Trump wrote about Youngkin.
Youngkin refused to engage when reporters cornered him later in the day.
“First of all I didn’t see it,” Youngkin said in a clip posted to Twitter by WRIC-TV reporter Jackie DeFusco.
Asked about former President Trump saying Gov. Youngkin’s name “sounds Chinese” and that he couldn’t have won without him, @GovernorVA says he didn’t see the comments. He said he does not call people names and he is focused on bringing people together @8NEWS pic.twitter.com/PlZ9aFXTWv
— Jackie DeFusco (@Jackie8News) November 11, 2022
“Listen, you all know me. I do not call people names. I really work hard to bring people together and that’s what we’re working on,” he said.
Could Youngkin win the Republican nomination in 2024?
Yes: 33% (268 Votes)
No: 67% (542 Votes)
Youngkin indicated he did not want to hear the post read.
“That’s not the way I roll, and not the way I behave,” he said. “This is a moment for us to come together.’
Virginia came on Trump’s radar after a Thursday comment by Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears that Trump might be more a part of the GOP’s past than its future.
“What we saw was, even though he wasn’t on the ballot, he was, because he stepped in and endorsed candidates,” Earle-Sears said, according to The Washington Post.
“And yet, it turns out that those he did not endorse on the same ticket did better than the ones he did endorse. That gives you a clue that the voters want to move on. And a true leader knows when they have become a liability to the mission,” she said.
Winsome Sears With The Latest Lame Attempt To Blame Trump For Everything
Ends by saying she “could not support” Trump for 2024. pic.twitter.com/4yCOyg69Hb
— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) November 10, 2022
A Trump representative responded with a statement to the Post.
“Winsome Sears rode a wave of President Trump’s voters to election victory in 2021,” the statement said. “Her comments are a slap to the face to all of the grassroots Republicans that worked so hard to get her elected. They won’t forget this and there will be a reckoning. There always is in politics.”
Radio host John Fredericks, who chaired Trump’s campaigns in Virginia both times he ran for president, also fired off a reply.
Yep. #Turncoat Told ya. @JasonMiyaresVA for Gov. 2025. @WinsomeSears now leads #NeverTrumperVA. Empty suit brigade. Bang a shoe, sell out Trump voters. https://t.co/XEeBm2Ijrf
— John Fredericks (@jfradioshow) November 10, 2022
“If you think Winsome Sears did this without the approval of Glenn Youngkin, you’re naive,” Fredericks said, on his website, JohnFredericksReport.com.
“This is his salvo to run for president. Good luck beating Team Trump in Virginia. We’ll crush him in his own state,” he said.
