We already knew that newly sworn-in Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin was a watered-down version of Donald Trump. That much was amply established when he issued executive orders banning the teaching of critical race theory and banning mask mandates. The latter, in particular, has already blown up in his face. Not only did a judge overturn the ban on mask mandates as a violation of the state constitution, but a recent poll from Public Policy Polling shows Virginians favor mask mandates and vaccine mandates by double-digit margins. Small wonder that same poll shows Youngkin with only a +2 approval rating; at this stage, Ralph Northam had a +18 approval rating.
Well, on Saturday, something happened that shows Youngkin is, at bottom, full MAGA. After a teenage state senate intern called out Youngkin for his treatment of a historian at the Governor’s Mansion, Youngkin’s campaign team responded with a blatant cheap shot on Twitter. And as I write this on Sunday morning, Youngkin has yet to respond.
On Saturday afternoon, Democratic state senate intern Ethan Lynne noticed that Kelley Fanto Deetz, a historian who was tasked with teaching about slavery at the Virginia Governor’s Mansion, had resigned over concerns about how the new administration was treating her.
When she arrived for work last month, Deetz discovered that someone had moved cooking supplies on loan from Monticello and other sites in the mansion’s historic kitchen. She also found her office had been emptied out. She also noticed a TV had been placed in an area that had once been used as laundry and sleeping quarters for slaves that she had planned to use as a classroom, leading her to believe it had been converted into a family room.
However, by the time Lynne fired off this tweet, VPM, the NPR and PBS member for the Richmond area, had learned that space was not being used for a family room. Youngkin’s press secretary, Macaulay Porter, passed this on to Lynne.
But Youngkin’s campaign team had a somewhat more shameful reaction. Apparently somebody—or a whole lot of somebodies—thought it would be a great idea to show Lynne alongside Northam, who was nearly forced out of office due to pictures showing him in blackface in medical school. By Sunday morning, that tweet had been deleted. But the Internet never forgets.
By the time the tweet had been deleted (at least a day later than it should have been), the criticism had come in fast and hard. Take state party executive director Andrew Whitley.
And state delegate Mike Mullin of Hampton.
And state senator Louise Lucas of Petersburg.
Even if Lynne’s initial tweet was mistaken, there is no excuse for the below-the-belt response from Youngkin’s team. And Lucas is dead on about one thing—the only way for Youngkin to make this right is to personally apologize.
Soon after Youngkin took office, he pinned this to his official Twitter account.
Put your money where your mouth is, Governor. Will you step up and show some leadership? If not, then the world will know that on day 21-22, your campaign staff saw fit to take a cheap shot at a teenage boy.