And so it begins:
Hillary Clinton won Virginia in the 2016 election and former President Barack Obama won Virginia in both the 2008 and 2012 election Needless to say, Trump isn’t tremendously popular in the state, so an apt comparison between the president and Gillespie could prove to be detrimental to Gillespie’s campaign.
Gillespie was actually less aligned with Trump than his opponent in the Republican primary, Corey Stewart– but Northam released a new ad that highlights the similarities between the two Republican politicians.
The ad opens up by saying “Now we must stop the Trump Gillespie agenda.” It continues by calling Gillespie a “Washington Insider” who “will be Trump’s top lobbyist in Virginia.” In the early 2000’s under Former President G.W. Bush, Gillespie’s lobbyist firm was hired by Enron to “press the company’s case on tax and energy issues.” Northam’s ad says that Enron was the “largest corporate fraud.”
Gillespie is also quoted in the video saying at a press conference that he “would like to see abortion be banned.” Gillespie’s views contrast the current Virginia Governor’s stance. Governor Terry McAuliffe vetoed a bill to defund Planned Parenthood and helped overturn Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers – otherwise known as TRAP– which are policies that overregulate abortion providers to the point where they are forced to close.
Let’s keep the ad on the air. Click here to donate and get involved with Northam’s campaign.