Ed Gillespie Goes ‘Off The Deep End’ in Virginia

Gillespie Hires Trump/Stewart Staffer, Chases Trump Vote

Ed Gillespie is officially aboard the Trump train in the Virginia governor’s race.
After nearly losing the primary to neo-confederate champion Corey Stewart, Gillespie has been trying to shore up the far-right Republican base with winks and nods. Most notably, in the wake of Charlottesville protests, Gillespie refrained from criticizing President Trump, in contrast with many Republicans across the country.
But now Gillespie’s not holding back. In the last two days, Gillespie hired a controversial new staffer, Jack Morgan, who worked for Trump last year and Corey Stewart in the primary.
As the Washington Post reports, he holds some outlandish views. He recently said that the effort to remove Confederate statues is a communist plot to destroy America and believes the country is on the verge of another civil war.
Morgan’s comments:

“This is nothing but pure communists trying to come after America again. We have to stand up and we have to combat these crazy leftists, some socialists, but a whole lot of communists, too – nobody wants to use that [word] — who are coming after our country and after our foundation.” 
“It is now clear that Law Enforcement is either incapable or unwilling to stop the communists that are attempting to destroy our nation. It is time for President Trump to take control of this insurgency in America and for every law abiding citizen to train and be prepared to defend your life. We are already in a civil war it just hasn’t been called that yet.”

 
Washington Post conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin, who has documented Gillespie’s hard-right turn for weeks, sharply criticized his latest decisions:

“This is as repulsive as it is predictable.
…
Too afraid to oppose race-baiters and white-grievance mongers such as Trump, they adopt a ‘If you can’t beat them, join them’ attitude. In doing so, they forfeit their own integrity and make the entire party offensive to everyone else — even to those who might embrace some of their economic positions. If Trump can turn Ed Gillespie into a Confederate flag-waver, then the GOP really has lost any claim to be the Party of Lincoln.”

Meanwhile, Trump’s approval rating now sits at an all-time low of 28% with Virginians. But that hasn’t stopped Ed Gillespie from chasing his voters and championing his far-right policies.