“These men approached @GlennYoungkin‘s bus as it pulled up saying what sounded like, ‘We're all in for Glenn.' Here they are standing in front of the bus as his campaign event at Guadalajara started.@NBC29,” NBC 29's Elizabeth Holmes said alongside a photo showing five individuals wearing khaki pants, white shirts, and baseball hats holding tiki torches in front of Youngkin's bus — an attempt to drive the false narrative that Republicans embrace and support white supremacy. One of the supposed supporters standing in the picture is black:
These men approached @GlennYoungkin’s bus as it pulled up saying what sounded like, “We’re all in for Glenn.” Here they are standing in front of the bus as his campaign event at Guadalajara started.@NBC29 pic.twitter.com/l681ejyBjc
— Elizabeth Holmes (@holmes_reports) October 29, 2021
Others jumped in.
“Hey look, it's the FBI,” one user said as another described the men as “Democrat operatives.”
“I badly need to see the internal McAulliffe[sic] polling that led them to make this decision,” another added as memes and takes mocking McAuliffe and Democrats began pouring in:
People who are either McAuliffe interns or who answered an ad for cosplay and don't want to be identified https://t.co/sPNuMFyplG
— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) October 29, 2021
Terry McAuliffe is so desperate that his staffers are dressing up like Ralph Northam.
It won't work.
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) October 29, 2021
Stunning and brave. pic.twitter.com/LRdOUSSTK1
— James Lindsay, premium Halloween costume (NSFW) (@ConceptualJames) October 29, 2021
Spot the 🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴s pic.twitter.com/hlcbkbnBBn
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) October 29, 2021
Christina Freundlich, spokeswoman for McAuliffe, tweeted about the viral image on social media.
“The Unite the Right rally was one of the darkest days in the Commonwealth's history. this is who Glenn Youngkin's supporters are,” she claimed as social media users continued to mock McAuliffe's campaign:
McAuliffe's communications director also jumped on board.
“This is disgusting and disqualifying,” she said:
VA Democrats are denying involvement:
Statement on Glenn Youngkin’s bus stop earlier today: pic.twitter.com/Hw0svCAW9W
— Andrew Whitley (@AndrewWhitleyVA) October 29, 2021
Friday's RealClearPolitics' average shows the gubernatorial race tightening the final days, with Youngkin having a 0.9 percent edge over McAuliffe.