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For thirteen days, Ed Gillespie has refused to denounce Donald Trump’s reaction to Charlottesville.
As Republican elected officials and business leaders across the country have weighed in against Trump, Gillespie’s silence has become increasingly untenable — and his campaign has been forced to go to extraordinary lengths to avoid scrutiny about his refusal to speak out against Trump.
The latest example? Last night the Gillespie campaign banned an Albemarle County resident, Ivy McCall, from an event with Gillespie and Congressman Tom Garrett at Roslyn Farm in Charlottesville. McCall had RSVP’ed to the event and had a ticket, but was denied access at the entrance. McCall was attending the event to ask Congressman Garrett — her representative in D.C. — to co-sponsor legislation to censure President Trump for his defense of white nationalists in Charlottesville.
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Daily Progress: Select ticketholders turned away from private Garrett-Gillespie event
Albemarle County resident Ivy McCall was hoping to speak with her congressman, Rep. Tom Garrett, R-5th, on Monday when he was scheduled to be in the area for a private event.
She RSVP’d online to the meet and greet with Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie and Garrett days in advance and had the confirmation number with her when she arrived, but was told at the entrance she was not allowed in.
McCall, like others who reported similar instances on Twitter, was told she was not welcome at the private meet and greet at Roslyn Farm after she gave her name near the entrance.
One video posted to Twitter shows an interaction where two people who were sitting in their vehicle were told that they needed to turn around and leave.
Two spokespeople with the Gillespie campaign said that the event was private, but would not respond to further inquiries. Roslyn Farm did not return an email and a phone call seeking comment.
McCall said she understands the event was private, but does not understand why she did not get an email or other notification ahead of time alerting her that she would not be welcome.
Although the event was more for the benefit of Gillespie’s gubernatorial campaign, McCall said she planned to attend so she could speak with Garrett. She has reached out to his office before, and wanted to talk to him Mondayabout co-sponsoring the bill to censure President Donald Trump for his remarks on the violence in Charlottesville.
“I was planning to express it very respectfully, I didn't have a sign, I wasn't there to protest,” she said. “I was there to listen to what he had to say and also communicate to him and communicate with him as my congressman, as someone who's supposed to represent me.”
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