RGA Chair Condemns Trump, While Her Virginia Candidates Stay Silent

RGA Chair Condemns Trump, While Her Virginia Candidates Stay Silent 

NM Gov denounces Trump’s comments on Virginia’s Khan family

Gillespie, Stewart, Wittman duck questions

Despite the Chair of the Republican Governors Association (RGA) speaking up over Donald Trump’s attacks of a Virginia-based Gold Star family, the Commonwealth’s 3 GOP gubernatorial candidates have remained notably silent.

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, Chair of the RGA, still refuses to answer if she will support Donald Trump for president, but this week, Martinez joined a growing list of Republican leaders condemning Trump’s comments aimed at Gold Star parents Khizr and Ghazala Khan of Charlottesville, VA:

“Captain Khan is an American hero — period,” said RGA Chair, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez. “He laid down his life for his country and left behind two grieving parents who have every right to voice their opinions in the political process. Disparaging them is absolutely wrong and completely uncalled for.”

However, all three of Martinez’s gubernatorial candidates in Virginia – including Ed Gillespie, Corey Stewart, and Rob Wittman – have refused to stand up for the Virginia family who lost their son in the line of duty and denounce Trump’s attacks against them.

“Virginia’s next governor should have the courage to stand up for the Commonwealth’s values,” said DGA Communications Director Jared Leopold. “But Ed Gillespie, Corey Stewart and Rob Wittman won’t even stand up to Donald Trump when he attacks Gold Star parents from Charlottesville. This episode shows what these candidates are made of: they’ve put national politics over defending Virginia’s heroes.”

When asked about Trump’s attacks on the Khan family, Ed Gillespie responded with a 241-word Facebook post. Gillespie’s statement, “stopped short of criticizing Trump for his attacks on the couple,” wrote the Washington Post. 

“Through a spokesman, Gillespie declined to explain why,” the Post continued. 

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