Here’s Donald Trump to remind you how important it is to get out the vote in Virginia—to defeat Ed Gillespie, the Republican nominee Trump is lie-tweeting in support of this Election Day morning. After a couple of tweets attacking Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, the Democratic nominee for governor, Trump wrapped it all up in this charming package of lies:
Gillespie is going to turn around ... the poor economic performance of a state with lower unemployment than all but 13 other states? Virginia voters need to ask themselves if they want below-average unemployment “turned around.”
And high crime? Virginia's crime rate is below the national crime rate. In fact, “Virginia's violent crime rate was 186 per 100,000 people in 2015, the same rate as the year before, and again ranking 3rd lowest in the nation.” As for MS-13 specifically, Gillespie is so hell-bent on using the existence of a Latino gang to demonize immigrants that he has repeatedly cited a ludicrous number of MS-13 members in Fairfax County, Virginia. If you believe that the Justice Department and ICE estimates of MS-13 membership are anywhere in the ballpark of reality—anywhere in the satellite parking lot of the ballpark of reality, really—then you can see that Gillespie’s numbers are somewhere about three states over from reality.
So. If you don’t want Ed Gillespie’s race-baiting lies, as embraced by Donald Trump, to carry the day, get out the vote in Virginia. If you don’t want lies about the economy to carry the day, get out the vote in Virginia. If you don’t want Steve Bannon using a win to declare victory for racism and push the entire Republican Party even further in that direction, get out the vote in Virginia.
And, of course, Virginia isn’t the only place voting today. Get out the vote in New Jersey, and Maine, and Georgia, and Washington state, and a whole bunch of other places across the country.