Glenn Youngkin wants to have it both ways on the legitimacy of U.S. democracy

Glenn Youngkin was boosted into the Virginia governor’s mansion by a media—led by The Washington Post—portrayed him as a friendly, fleece-wearing departure from the Trump wing of the Republican Party. This week, as thousands of Virginia students walked out of school to protest Youngkin’s effort to reverse protections for LGBTQ students, the Post was back at it, with an in-depth look at how Youngkin is supposedly “straddling the GOP’s ‘big lie’ divide.”

The answer? The legitimacy of U.S. democracy is not a litmus test for Youngkin. He only cares if someone is a) a Republican who b) could help bolster his own national ambitions. That’s not straddling a divide. It’s supporting people who have made clear that they will participate in a coup attempt.

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