Senator Black Denies Bashar al-Assad Was Responsible for Gassing Civilians While Ed Gillespie Continues to Tout Black’s Support

In light of the recent chemical weapons attack in Syria, the Democratic Party of Virginia is calling on Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie to renounce his support from Senator Dick Black.

In an op-ed today in the Loudoun Tribune, Senator Black continued to defend Bashar al-Assad, days after he issued a statement denying Assad was responsible for gassing civilians. He later followed up with a series of tweets that Assad had been framed for previous attacks, has doubled down on his support of Assad, and had met with Assad in Syria last year.

Hundreds of thousands have died in the Syrian civil war, and Assad’s regime is even responsible for far more deaths in Syria than the terrorist group ISIS.

Despite Senator Black’s defense of a war criminal, Ed Gillespie has continued to tout his support of Dick Black. Last week, Gillespie trumpeted Black’s endorsement in a release, and touts his support on Twitter as well.

“This week’s unspeakable chemical weapons attack is the latest in a long series of horrors perpetrated by Bashar al-Assad on innocent civilians -- and yet, Ed Gillespie seems to be okay that one of his top endorsers is defending Assad’s war crimes,” said DPVA Chair Susan Swecker. “Ed Gillespie needs to immediately renounce Senator Dick Black’s endorsement.”