Editorial Board Asks: "Is [Glenn Youngkin] a conspiracy theorist, too, or simply a political coward?"
Richmond, VA — Glenn Youngkin refuses to back down from attending the “Election Integrity'' rally at Liberty University this weekend, despite continued pressure to withdraw from the event, including today from the Roanoke Times' editorial board.
Youngkin launched his campaign with an "election integrity" plan based on Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. Months later, Youngkin continues to peddle absurd theories about Donald Trump's prospects of being returned to office. This unhinged conspiracy theory — and anyone who is willing to advance it — belongs nowhere near the governorship.
See key excerpts below and read the full report here.
Roanoke Times: Editorial: The Danger of That ‘Election Integrity’ Rally
Republicans will conduct a two-day rally in Lynchburg this weekend. That would be completely unremarkable in an election year except for one thing: This is being billed as an “election integrity” rally.
Sadly, all the Republicans who are taking part in this event are lending their names to a conspiracy theory, that somehow the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent — something that not a single court in the land has found.
This is more than some talking point for a feverish fringe; it was an actionable point for all those people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Criminals might be one word for them; courts are already starting to apply that status.
Why are decent Republicans lending any legitimacy to these claims at all? Let’s be as clear as we possibly can: They are playing with a kind of fire, one that threatens to do something that once would have been unthinkable — undermine America’s commitment to democracy.
We’ve already seen an awful lot of Republicans who were willing to set aside some election results they simply didn’t like.
They have helped set the country on a dangerous path to a dark and terrible place.
This time it was some so-called conservatives (we’ll explain the “so-called” part shortly) who rioted, busted into Congress and chanted “hang the vice president” simply because they couldn’t bear the thought of their precious Donald Trump doing what at least half of all candidates do every election — lose. [...]
This event is sponsored by 5th District Republicans, who are already suspect because they nominated one of the nation’s more bizarre congressmen, Bob Good, R-Campbell County.
One of his top staff members attended the “Stop the Steal” rally of conspiracy theorists that preceded the attack on the Capitol.
Good himself was one of just 21 House members who voted against awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to police officers who defended the Capitol against those rioters. That put him in the same stench-filled category as Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.
Last week Campbell County Republicans called for an “audit” of Virginia’s 2020 results, which were not unusual in any way.
Why the 5th District has become a wellspring for this fringe is a mystery. If they want to hold a rally devoted to conspiracy theories, that’s their right but we’re saddened to see decent Republicans such as Rep. Ben Cline, R-Botetourt, and gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin associate themselves with this dangerous nonsense.
When asked about the absurd possibility of the courts “reinstating” Trump as president, Youngkin apparently won’t even push back. Is he a conspiracy theorist, too, or simply a political coward? [...]
###