Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin's campaign attacked a high schooler on Twitter

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin's (R) official campaign Twitter account deleted a post on Sunday that singled out a 17-year-old high school student, including his name and photo, 12 hours after posting the tweet.
The student, Ethan Lynne, retweeted an article from Virginia Public Media on Saturday about the resignation of a historical interpreter at the Virginia governor's mansion who quit after Youngkin's team reportedly emptied out her office. The historian, Kelley Fanto Deetz, had focused on the history of enslaved people at the mansion. "Team Youngkin" replied to Lynne's tweet with a photo of him and former Gov. Ralph Northam, next to a old photo from Northam's yearbook page that included somebody in blackface. VPM's Ben Paviour posted a screenshot of the deleted tweet.
"Youngkin ran for office as a sunny, basketball-loving dad-next-door figure who promised to transcend political divisions even as he stoked culture wars related to K-12 education," The Washington Post reports, noting that the governor recently urged a Virginia woman threatening to carry a loaded gun to her local school board meeting if the district didn't drop its mask mandate to "love your neighbors." Youngkin's divisive executive order banning mask requirements was temporally blocked in court on Friday.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter declined requests for comment from VPM and the Post, but Matt Wolking, a Youngkin campaign consultant at Axiom Strategies, explained in a statement that the tweet was taken down because "it was brought to attention that this Democrat Party official" is "actually a minor." He said Youngkin had neither seen nor signed off on the tweet.
Lynne, who has worked as an unpaid intern and volunteer for Virginia Democrats, told VPM he "was appalled and shocked that the governor would attack a minor who was also a constituent and leave the tweet up for over 12 hours." He told the Post he "received no apology, no communication, nothing." Virginia Democratic lawmakers slammed Youngkin's campaign for "cyber-bullying" a minor. State Sen. Adam Ebbin (D) suggested Youngkin learn "you need thick skin" in politics.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoff
Speed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsion
Speed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot
-
Oregon sues to stop Trump military deployment
Speed Read The president wants to send the National Guard into Portland