He was supposed to be different.
The moment that the man in fleece was declared Governor-Elect of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin was supposed to lead the way to a bright new Republican future – for the Commonwealth, for the party, and even for the nation. Never mind his amazing luck [1] – having a Republican nomination just after Kabul fell and just before Roe fell, an opponent who refused to even noticed how the Chinese Communist Party rolled him [2], etc.; in fact, his good luck was the point. Trump was the past; Youngkin was the future.
Just under three years later, in response to Trump openly calling for the military to be deployed against his political opponents (NBC [3]), Youngkin is … well, I’ll let Tom Nichols [4] tell it.
But today’s Republican leaders are cowards, and some are even worse: They are complicit, as Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin proved today in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tappe [5]r. At least cowards run away. The GOP elected officials who cross the street against the light just to get away from the reporters are at least showing a tiny, molecular awareness of shame. Youngkin, however, smiled and dissembled and excused Trump’s hideousness with a kind of folksy shamelessness that made cowardice seem noble by comparison.
Tapper read [6] Trump’s remarks verbatim, and then asked: “Is that something that you support?” Youngkin replied that Tapper misunderstood Trump, who he said was referring to undocumented immigrants. No, Tapper responded, Trump clearly meant American citizens. Tapper added that Trump had singled out Schiff. Youngkin aw-shucksed his way through stories about Venezuelan criminals and Virginians dying from fentanyl. “Obviously there is a border crisis,” Tapper said. “Obviously there are too many criminals who should not be in this country, and they should be jailed and deported completely, but that’s not what I’m talking about.” And then, to his credit, Tapper wouldn’t let go: What about Trump’s threat to use the military against Americans?
…
Youngkin, however, is not a terrified subject of an authoritarian regime: He’s just an opportunist. Like J. D. Vance [7], he knows exactly what he’s doing. Youngkin is demanding that everyone else play along and pretend that Trump is just a misunderstood immigration hawk, and then move on—all so that Youngkin can later say that he was a loyal Republican when he contends for the leadership of the GOP after Trump is either defeated, retired, or long gone.
In this, Youngkin joins a long list of utterly dishonorable people…
This is a good time for all of us to take a deep breath and remember just how much of a fluke Glenn Youngkin really is. As I noted above, he had the great fortune of running in what arguably was the most favorable Republican environment in a decade. Yet the Democrats survived the onslaught in New Jersey and New York City. Virginia was the only state in the union where Republicans reigned supreme – and even that took a hit [8] last year. In short, contrary to all the hype. Glenn Youngkin is just another Republican elected who is perfectly comfortable as a Trump sycophant, knowing full well what damage the Pumpkin Plutocrat can do to the country.
The only difference between him and all the other Trumpers whom the voters have rejected was timing. He is no force for change. He never will be. He knows his political career is over unless he bends the knee. So he is. He’s just as bad as the rest of the GOP, and just as unworthy of office – as is anyone who still champions him.