Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin is the target of Trump’s latest dog-whistle attack.
On Friday morning, former President Donald Trump took to his social platform Truth Social to share his thoughts on Youngkin. Typing out the governor’s last name as “Young Kin,” he wrote, “now that’s an interesting take. Sounds Chinese, doesn’t it?”
He continued his statement by taking credit for the governor’s 2021 Virginia win. “I Endorsed him,” Trump wrote, “did a very big Trump Rally for him telephonically, got MAGA to Vote for him – or he couldn’t have come close to winning. But he knows that, and admits it.”
This is not the first time Trump has deployed the “Chinese” descriptive in a negative way. During his presidency, he often notoriously referred to COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus.”
Trump’s recent jab comes after Youngkin seemingly turned away from Trump, following fellow Republicans after disappointing midterm election results for many Trump-backed candidates. On Thursday, Trump also swiped at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who also once had the backing of the former president, who called him “Ron DeSanctimonious.”
Youngkin and DeSantis are potential rivals to Trump in the pursuit of the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election. Trump is expected to announce his presidential bid at Mar-a-Lago next Tuesday.
Youngkin responded to Trump’s statements after a Veteran’s Day event at the Virginia War Memorial, according to Virginia Mercury. Although the governor stated that he had not seen the post, he said, “You all know me, I do not call people names. I really work hard to bring people together.”
“That’s not the way I roll and not the way I behave.”
