Republican Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin brushed off a social media swipe from former President Donald Trump Friday, saying he didn’t see it and wants people to come together.
Trump has spent the last few days attacking fellow Republicans, particularly Governor Ron DeSantis, whose landslide win in Florida on Tuesday sparked talk of a 2024 presidential run. But on Friday morning, Trump turned his sights on Youngkin, a Republican who unexpectedly turned Virginia red in 2021.
“Young Kin (now that’s an interesting take. Sounds Chinese, doesn’t it?) in Virginia couldn’t have won without me,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “I Endorsed him, did a very big Trump Rally for him telephonically, got MAGA to Vote for him – or he couldn’t have come close to winning.”
When asked to comment on Trump’s remarks, Youngkin told reporters that he wasn’t interested in engaging in name-calling.
“Listen, you all know me, I do not call people names — I really work hard to bring people together — and that’s what we’re working on,” said Youngkin. “That’s not the way I roll and not the way I behave.”
The Virginia governor’s race was largely expected to go to Democrat Terry McAuliffe, but Youngkin surged in the polls following a story by The Daily Wire highlighting a high school bathroom rape in Loudoun County, Virginia.
Although Trump endorsed Youngkin for governor, the Virginia candidate didn’t openly tout the endorsement during the campaign. As the race drew closer, Trump promised to hold a rally in Arlington, Virginia, which votes heavily Democratic, but it ended up being a telephone rally after outcry from people who feared it would only harm Youngkin.
Trump then took credit for Youngkin’s victory on Fox News, prompting widespread confusion at the Youngkin victory party, according to a Daily Wire reporter who attended the event.
Trump’s comments about Youngkin came as the former president is expected to announce a third White House run next week, even as it remains to be seen which party will control Congress and whether any appetite exists for a campaign so soon after one election and before critical Senate runoff in Georgia. Jason Miller, a former adviser to Trump, said Thursday he was encouraging the former president to postpone his teased big announcement.
“I’ll be advising him that he move his announcement until after the Georgia runoff,” said Miller, who was the chief spokesman for Trump’s 2016 campaign and a senior adviser for the 2020 bid. “Georgia needs to be the focus of every Republican in the country right now.”
While Republicans are still favored to narrowly win the House of Representatives, control of the Senate may not be decided until December 6, when Republican Herschel Walker will face off against Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA).
Luke Rosiak contributed to this report.