Source: The Federalist
Virginia Democrat gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe’s campaign was dragged online on Friday after Democrat political operatives quickly amplified a photo of five people in tan pants and white shirts carrying tiki torches in front of Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin’s bus.
A local news reporter first tweeted the photo on Friday morning and claimed that the group said “We’re all in for Glenn.”
“Here they are standing in front of the bus as his campaign event at Guadalajara started,” Elizabeth Holmes tweeted. She did not appear to follow up with the group or disclose that she asked them any questions.
Shortly after the reporter tweeted, multiple key members of McAuliffe’s campaign and Democrat strategists jumped at the opportunity to share the photo with their own agenda-setting commentary.
“The Unite the Right rally was one of the darkest days in the Commonwealth’s history. this is who Glenn Youngkin’s supporters are,” McAuliffe’s spokeswoman Christina Freundlich tweeted.
The Unite the Right rally was one of the darkest days in the Commonwealth’s history. this is who Glenn Youngkin’s supporters are pic.twitter.com/OpJ55r0AMr
— Christina Freundlich (@christinafreund) October 29, 2021
“Disgusting reference to the 2017 Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville,” McAuliffe’s social media manager wrote.
Wow. At a campaign stop for Glenn Youngkin this morning, people were holding tiki torches and chanting “we’re all in for Glenn.” Disgusting reference to the 2017 Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville. pic.twitter.com/AfKcBt5DwK
— Charlie (@CharlieOlaf) October 29, 2021
“This is disgusting and disqualifying,” a McAuliffe communications aide wrote.
This is disgusting and disqualifying. https://t.co/EJ9Fk7OeTE
— Jen Goodman (@jengoodman75) October 29, 2021
Others associated with Virginia Democrats and other Democrat strategy groups also decried the photo on social media and used it as an opportunity to target Youngkin.
YIKES. https://t.co/O5ZSuxvMLB
— Ally Sammarco (@ally_sammarco) October 29, 2021
https://twitter.com/NickKnudsenUS/status/1454149270706147329?s=20
Adam Parkhomenko, a well-known Democrat strategist and consultant who served as National Field Director for the Democratic National Committee in 2016, also spent most of his afternoon retweeting posts from other leftists who continued to use the photo to slander Youngkin. The day before, Parkhomenko urged his more than 539,000 Twitter followers to follow the McAuliffe campaign’s social media manager Charlie Olaf, who went from having 120 followers to more than 7,000 just as he started amplifying the tiki torch stunt.
Based on the Democrats’ organized and speedy reaction to the photo, internet sleuths also quickly deduced that at least two of the khaki-clad people at the event this morning bore a strong resemblance to officers of Virginia Young Democrats and Virginia Democrats.
Camden Layton, the finance director for Virginia Young Democrats, and Colleen Wachenfeld, who is associated with Virginia Democrats, both appeared to be pictured in the five-person group clad in caps and white shirts. Shortly after Twitter users noted Layton and Wachenfeld’s resemblance to the mysterious torch holders, they both made their social media accounts private.
VYD and VD did not immediately respond to The Federalist’s request for comment but did issue a defensive statement on Twitter insisting that “The Democratic Party of Virginia, along with its coordinated partners and its affiliates, did not have any role today in the events that happened outside of the Youngkin campaign bus stop today.”
The McAuliffe campaign also did not immediately respond to The Federalist’s request for comment but told a local NBC affiliate and Mediate that “this was not us or anyone affiliated with our campaign.”
The McAuliffe campaign’s denial, however, did not stop people including U.S Sen. Tom Cotton from criticizing the Democrat candidate for going to exceptional means to take down his opponent.
“Terry McAuliffe is so desperate that his staffers are dressing up like Ralph Northam. It won’t work,” Cotton said.
McAuliffe’s campaign already made headlines this week when his spokeswoman mistakenly replied to a Fox News comment request asking her team on McAuliffe’s campaign “Can we try to kill this.” The spokeswoman was referencing reports that just weeks before Virginia’s Election Day, McAuliffe’s campaign paid $53,680 to the Elias Law Group which is led by Marc Elias, a Democrat operative who fueled the Russia hoax.
Shortly after Fox reported on the accidental email, Freundlich claimed that her efforts to subdue the story were successful.
“I think it’s clear based on this story that we did in fact…kill the story,” Freundlich wrote.
Her response was mocked by several people who noted that, in fact, the story had not died and was reported on by multiple outlets.
Updated Oct. 29 6:10 p.m. Eastern
The Lincoln Project, a group of NeverTrump grifters who knew about the sexual assault allegations against their founder John Weaver, claimed responsibility for staging the hoax.
“Today’s demonstration was our way of reminding Virginians what happened in Charlottesville four years ago, the Republican Party’s embrace of those values, and Glenn Youngkin’s failure to condemn it,” the statement said.
Shortly after, multiple McAuliffe aides and Democrat strategists deleted their tweets promoting the hoax as a display of white supremacy by Youngkin supporters.
