The media was shaken on Tuesday night when Blue Virginia flipped red just a year after President Joe Biden won the state by a double-digit margin.
Republican Glenn Youngkin upset Democrat favorite Terry McAuliffe in the gubernatorial race; Republican Winsome Sears defeated Democrat Hala Ayala for lieutenant governor, making her the first black woman to hold office statewide in Virginia; and Republican Jason Miyares defeated sitting Democrat Attorney General Mark Herring to become the state’s first Latino AG.
Virginia meet your new Lieutenant Governor. pic.twitter.com/WukS6wlCrm
— Daniel Bostic (@debostic) November 3, 2021
Predictably, in their loss, the media let the accusation of racism fly.
MSNBC host Joy Reid, for example, suggested parents in Virginia rejected the Democrat education agenda, which included controversial transgender bathroom policies and concerning potential race-based curriculum, because they are racist.
Education concerns, Reid said referring to exiting polling data, is “code for white parents who don’t like the idea about teaching about race.”
In a viral tweeted posted Tuesday, Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro succinctly mocked the media panic:
“Condolences to VA on becoming radically racist again according to the media… by electing a black female lieutenant governor and a Cuban-American attorney general, rejecting racial essentialism in schools, and replacing a Dem governor who wore an actual KKK outfit,” he wrote.
Notably, Youngkin is replacing Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam, who was reportedly photographed in his medical school yearbook in either blackface or a KKK outfit. (It was never determined which.)
Last month, McAuliffe shrugged off the Northam photo. “Listen, even if it had been him in the blackface. You know,” he said, according to CNN. “It was a dumb mistake 40 years ago.”
“I grew up in New York. And in all fairness folks, I didn’t know what blackface was. You know, I had not experienced, we had no racism issues, honestly, growing up in Syracuse,” he added.
Shapiro continued to hit the media: “Why, [the] media cried, didn’t McAuliffe win after running on parents losing control of their children’s education, relying on Randi Weingarten for masking advice, and labeling all opponents of CRT racist?” he wrote in another tweet.
Why, they media cried, didn't McAuliffe win after running on parents losing control of their children's education, relying on Randi Weingarten for masking advice, and labeling all opponents of CRT racist?
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) November 3, 2021
“It turns out that ‘everything I don’t like is white supremacy’ is not a good campaign message,” Shapiro noted, referring to Democrats’ strategy, too.
It turns out that "everything I don't like is white supremacy" is not a good campaign message.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) November 3, 2021
As highlighted by The Daily Wire, enthusiasm to get to the polls seemed to swing toward Republicans following a sexual assault scandal at a public school.
Days before the election, In the waning days of the election, an alleged sexual assault in a school girls bathroom by a male student wearing a skirt — a story broken by The Daily Wire — along with outrage over school boards unilaterally deciding what children will be taught, took center stage. That has reportedly led to high enthusiasm by Republicans to hit the polls.
Related: ‘It’s A Bloodbath’: GOP Wins Virginia’s Governorship, AG, Lt. Governorship, Leads House Of Delegates