'That's not the way I behave,' Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin refuses to participate in Trump feud

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin refused to take the bait thrown at him by former President Donald Trump, who remarked earlier on Friday that Youngkin owed his success and popularity with Virginia residents to Trump.

As detailed by the Rebel, Trump has spent the past few days alienating his allies with unprovoked attacks on his fellow Republicans, particularly Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who won the state by a landslide and carried other Republicans into the legislature during the midterms.

On Friday, Trump took direct aim at Youngkin, another perceived rival and a rising star in the Republican party, who turned Virginia red in 2021.

“Young Kin (now that’s an interesting take. Sounds Chinese, doesn’t it?) in Virginia couldn’t have won without me,” Trump wrote on his personal social media platform Truth Social. “I Endorsed him, did a very big Trump Rally for him telephonically, got MAGA to Vote for him – or he couldn’t have come close to winning.”

Asked for comment by reporters, Youngkin refused to take the bait and said he wasn’t interested in participating in Trump’s psychodrama.

“Listen, you all know me, I do not call people names — I really work hard to bring people together — and that’s what we’re working on,” said Youngkin. “That’s not the way I roll and not the way I behave.”

Youngkin unexpectedly won the seat for governor in 2021, surging well past his Democrat opponent Terry McAuliffe, largely due to his campaign against woke progressivism and radical gender ideology in Virginia schools.

Despite Trump’s endorsement for Youngkin as governor, Youngkin did little to endorse the former president’s support and did not participate in a planned Trump rally. Trump ended up holding a telephone rally for Youngkin, which had questionable impact on the outcome of the election.

Despite what little support Trump offered Youngkin, the former president took full credit for his victory on Fox News. His remarks caused confusion at Youngkin’s victory party, as detailed by the Daily Wire, which attended the event.

Trump is expected to announce his third bid for the White House this week, but close allies of the former president have reportedly urged him to back down from doing so in light of his less-than-secure position following the disappointing outcomes of the recent midterm elections.

“I’ll be advising him that he move his announcement until after the Georgia runoff,” said Trump ally and advisor Jason Miller who served as the chief spokesman for Trump’s 2016 campaign and served in a senior role during Turmp’s bid for re-election in 2020. “Georgia needs to be the focus of every Republican in the country right now.”