VA-GOV: Glenn Youngkin Financed a PAC That Supports 2020 Deniers and 1/6 Apologists
When Glenn Youngkin was running for the Republican nomination in Virginia’s gubernatorial contest earlier this year, he refused to say whether Joe Biden had legitimately won the 2020 election. Then after he secured the nomination, he acknowledged on Fox that Biden indeed “was legitimately elected our president.” A few weeks ago, Youngkin even said that he would have voted to certify the election had he been a member of Congress. And when right-wing supporters of his campaign recently held a rally where they pledged allegiance to a flag flown at a pro-Trump demonstration in Washington, DC, on January 6 before the Capitol Hill riot, Youngkin called this act “weird and wrong” and denounced the violence of January 6.
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.” Yet in one important aspect, Youngkin has signaled his full support for the Trump conspiracy crowd: he has funneled his own personal cash into the campaigns of Big Lie advocates and 1/6 apologists.
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. (Youngkin’s personal fortune is estimated at about $440 million, and he has loaned his campaign at least $16.5 million.) 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.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/10/virginia-gop-candidate-glenn-youngkin-financed-a-pac-that-supports-2020-deniers-and-1-6-apologists/