RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) endorsed Donald Trump for president Wednesday night, posting a message on the social media site X calling the former president the best choice for “strong leadership.”
Youngkin did not appear with Trump when the former president held a rally here Saturday night, and instead was spotted attending the University of Virginia-Duke basketball game in Durham, N.C.
Youngkin embraced Trump while seeking the GOP gubernatorial nomination in 2021. But with his red vests and suburban affability, he kept Trump at arm’s length during the general election in purple Virginia.
After flirting last year with his own 2024 presidential bid, Youngkin seemed to offer Republicans a new path that played to the MAGA base but steered away from Trump’s rough edges. In 2022, Trump claimed Youngkin couldn’t have won without him and suggested the governor’s name sounded Chinese.
But Youngkin did not gain traction when he traveled the country in 2022 to help Republican gubernatorial candidates in various states, including some who echoed Trump’s false claim that Democrats stole the 2020 election. Last year, he failed to help the GOP win majorities in the Virginia legislature, and that seemed to cool his own national ambitions.
On Wednesday, Youngkin made clear that he fully supports Trump.
“His record on border security, restoring American leadership around the world, reducing taxes and lowering the cost of living for all Americans stands in stark contrast to the open borders, failed leadership on the global stage, rampant inflation and higher costs of today,” Youngkin wrote. “It’s time to unite around strong leadership and policies that grow our great nation, not four more years of President Biden.”
Democrats reacted quickly. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, who along with Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) announced plans to run for the Democratic nomination for governor next year, immediately posted a statement on X calling Youngkin’s endorsement “a slap in the face to millions of Virginians. Our Commonwealth rejected Trump’s bigotry in 2016 and 2020 — and will do it again in November.”
House Speaker Don L. Scott Jr. (D-Portsmouth) said in an interview that he was not surprised by the endorsement. “That’s kind of par for the course right now for the Republican Party. They’re all under the MAGA charm and until someone actually develops the courage to step away from that, we’ll continue to get Donald Trump,” he said.
Scott added that he doesn’t see Youngkin’s position affecting sensitive negotiations in the General Assembly over the state budget or other legislation. “It does not change anything in our calculation of how we try to move the commonwealth of Virginia forward together. We know Republicans have to do this,” he said.
