Virginia Governor Race: Trump Gloats McAuliffe’s Campaign Against Him Helped Youngkin

Former President Donald Trump gloated that Terry McAuliffe’s campaign against him ultimately helped Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin lead the race. Youngkin has been called the Virginia gubernatorial race winner by multiple outlets early Wednesday.

In a statement, Trump said it appears as if McAuliffe’s “campaign against a certain person named ‘Trump’ has very much helped Glenn Youngkin. All McAuliffe did was talk Trump, Trump, Trump and he lost!” The Hill reported.

The business mogul went on to predict that Democratic candidates for various governmental positions will no longer use the same strategy “too much longer” as McAuliffe did. Finally, Trump noted that he “didn’t even have to go rally for Youngkin, because McAuliffe did it for me.”

The former president’s comments came before multiple news outlets called Virginia for Youngkin. He continued to lead the race through late Tuesday, and by early Wednesday, Associated Press, CNN, NBC News, and other major outlets declared his gubernatorial win in the state, making him the first Republican to claim a victory in the state since 2009.

During the campaign, McAuliffe tried to tie Youngkin to Trump, whose popularity is known to be low in the state, while Youngkin appeared to avoid being linked too much to the ex-president. Youngkin’s campaign focused on critical race theory and transgender equality in schools. Trump’s absence in Youngkin’s rallies was deemed as a successful challenge to McAuliffe’s efforts to paint him as a Trump clone.

It is also worth noting that while Trump did not travel personally to Virginia to rally alongside Youngkin, he did have good things to say about the Republican candidate, calling him a “fantastic guy” and someone who can “do a job like nobody can do.”

After 1.00 a.m. Wednesday, Youngkin thanked his supporters as he spoke from his campaign headquarters in Chantilly, Virginia. “We stand here this morning at this defining moment,” he said, adding that the journey started with his “dreams and hopes” of “a Virginia that soars, a Virginia that never settles, a Virginia where the Virginia promise comes alive for everyone that calls this Virginia home.” He went on to say that “together, we will change the trajectory of this Commonwealth.”

CNN counted Youngkin’s votes at 51.0%, while McAuliffe’s count was at 48.3%.

Youngkin’s win is deemed a major upset for Democrats as a whole, not just for McAuliffe, who previously served as governor from 2014 to 2018. Some spectators noted that the Republican win served as a warning sign as Democrats head to next year’s midterms elections as Democrat voter loyalty may now be hanging in the balance in states like Virginia where Republicans were supposedly unpopular.