Washington Post Opinion: “After Soiling Himself With Trumpism, Glenn Youngkin Works To Erase the Stain”

A new column in the Washington Post slams Glenn Youngkin for embracing Trumpism after he was forced to spend the day explaining himself for his refusal to say that he would have voted to certify the election if he was in Congress.

Even as Youngkin scrambles to walk back his casual support of undermining the key principles of democracy, the column cautions “there is no reason to take him at his word” because time after time again, “Youngkin has already deeply soiled himself with Trumpist lies about the 2020 election.”

Youngkin has embraced Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories about the 2020 election since Day One when he made ‘election integrity’ the landmark policy position of his campaign, calling it “the most important issue.”

Since then, “Youngkin has repeatedly indulged voters who’ve suggested the 2020 voting might have been fraudulent or even that the result might ultimately get overturned by courts,” even refusing to tell the truth that there is no possible path for Trump’s reinstatement as president.

Youngkin can continue his pattern of doubling down on far-right conspiracies, only to attempt to reverse course when he’s called out, but his record of embracing Trumpism has left a stain that will be impossible to erase — no matter how hard he tries.

Read the full column here and see key excerpts below:

Washington Post: Opinion: After soiling himself with Trumpism, Glenn Youngkin works to erase the stain

Glenn Youngkin is shocked, just absolutely shocked, that reporters are daring to ask him whether he would have supported certifying President Biden’s 2020 election win. The GOP candidate for governor in Virginia cannot believe this is even an open question!

On Monday, Youngkin faced heat from journalists after Axios reported that in an interview, “he wouldn’t say whether he would have voted to certify the election on Jan. 6 if he were a member of Congress.”

Pressed to explain himself, Youngkin sought to appear flabbergasted. “It’s a silly thing,” he told a reporter who asked about it. “I’ve said all along that Joe Biden was legitimately elected our president.”

But if Youngkin is facing questions about this, he has only himself to blame. While he has been less obvious about it than other Republicans have been, on this matter Youngkin has already deeply soiled himself with Trumpist lies about the 2020 election. Youngkin may wish to erase this right now as a general election candidate in a state that Biden carried by 10 points, but there is no reason to take him at his word.

[…]

So Youngkin’s original position on this to Axios was basically indistinguishable from the craven evasions we’ve heard from many other Republicans for months now.

Then there are Youngkin’s own previous stances on this matter. Youngkin has repeatedly indulged voters who’ve suggested the 2020 voting might have been fraudulent or even that the result might ultimately get overturned by courts, the latter being a particularly deranged Trumpist delusion. As a Post editorial concluded, Youngkin has been “playing footsie” with the “big lie.”

What’s more, as a primary candidate, Youngkin pushed a noxious version of the Republican “election integrity” canard. Here again this is a position Republicans adopt when they want to feed the delusions and conspiracy theories of the Trumpist base while seeking to maintain plausible deniability for doing so.

On top of all this, according to a Post report, it was only after Youngkin had secured the GOP nomination that he fully and unequivocally declared that Biden had legitimately won. Youngkin deserves zero benefit of the doubt on any of this.

Indeed, it will be lost on no one that Youngkin made his comments to Axios at a time when Donald Trump is attacking him for not fully embracing “the MAGA movement.” It’s highly likely that, when asked whether he would have certified Biden’s win, Youngkin deliberately fudged, worrying that answering the question with a definitive “no” might dampen turnout among the Trump base, which he may need to have a chance at winning.

[…]

But when it comes to the rest of the voters, Youngkin might soon learn that those who soil themselves with the stain of Trumpism cannot erase it quite as effortlessly as they might have thought.