Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), once again a candidate for the state’s highest office, was caught selectively editing statements made years ago by his Republican opponent for a campaign ad.
McAuliffe, according to a Washington Post fact-checker, purposefully took quotes from his Republican opponent Glenn Youngkin out of context in order to make it appear that Youngkin had praised McAuliffe during the latter’s first stint as governor.
According to that report, McAuliffe “seeks to portray Youngkin as two-faced, decrying in the campaign that ‘our commonwealth is in the ditch’ while actually praising McAuliffe years before the investment guru decided to enter politics.”
“We have one out of 50 states that’s doing very well, and particularly in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” the ad says.
That was reportedly a statement made by Youngkin in 2017, at an Export-Import Bank panel discussion. But the ad attempts to frame the comment in a light favorable to McAuliffe.
“While the McAuliffe campaign can point to moments when Youngkin approved of the economy under the current Democratic governor, Ralph Northam, the ad relies on selective editing to suggest Youngkin was equally praiseworthy of McAuliffe, who served as governor from 2014 to 2018,” according to The Washington Post.Â
In another portion of the ad, McAuliffe reportedly spliced unrelated sentences together in an attempt to prove his point.
“Governor, I want to come back to the role you’ve played in developing Virginia’s economy. How do you do it?” Youngkin can be heard saying in the ad.
But the “how do you do it” line was taken from an entirely different portion of the 2017 event, and according to The Post “the comment isn’t as admiring” in its full context.
“The ad suggests that Youngkin is touting Virginia as a place to invest because of McAuliffe,” the paper said. “Instead, the full context shows that Youngkin made clear he said that, lightheartedly, because he’s a native of Virginia.”
McAuliffe’s campaign defended the ad.
“Any way you slice it, Glenn’s meaning is clear: Virginia’s economy thrived during Terry’s administration, and no amount of posturing by Glenn now can change that,” spokesperson Renzo Olivari reportedly said.
Watch the full ad here.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
