Gov. Youngkin expresses ‘regret’ after campaign team targets teen on Twitter

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share via Email
• Copy Link

  Link Copied

Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin expressed remorse on Monday over his campaign team lashing out at a high school student on Twitter two days prior.

“I regret that this happened and it shouldn’t have,” Youngkin tweeted. “I have addressed it with my team. We must continue to work to bring Virginians together. There is so much more that unites us than divides us.”

On Saturday night, an unauthorized tweet came from a campaign account. I regret that this happened and it shouldn’t have. I have addressed it with my team. We must continue to work to bring Virginians together. There is so much more that unites us than divides us.

— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) February 7, 2022

The student, Ethan Lynne, 17, became a target for Youngkin’s campaign staff on Saturday after he shared a VPM news story claiming Youngkin’s administration may be converting part of the governor’s mansion, where 19th-century slaves worked and slept, into a family room.

A spokesperson for Youngkin has since clarified that the room is not being used for that purpose, according to the news site.

The state’s new governor made banning critical race theory in Virginia schools a central theme of his successful 2020 campaign before issuing an executive order on the matter the same day he was inaugurated.

The governor’s campaign team responded to Lynne’s tweet by sharing a photo of him with former Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam.

Glenn Youngkin’s campaign Twitter account attacked a Hanover County high school student, @ethanclynne, last night after he shared my story. The Tweet was deleted after blowback and I’ve asked Youngkin’s team for an explanation. Ethan says he hasn’t heard anything from them. pic.twitter.com/YWMmLCOQys

— Ben Paviour (@BPaves) February 6, 2022

The tweet, which has since been deleted, also included a photo from Northam’s college yearbook that showed a student wearing blackface standing next to another wearing a Ku Klux Klan outfit.

It’s the same yearbook photo that caused a scandal for Northam when it resurfaced in 2019.

“Here’s a picture of Ethan with a man that had a blackface/KKK photo in his yearbook,” Youngkin’s campaign team tweeted on Saturday, according to the Washington Post.

Critics blasted Youngkin’s team for attacking a teenager online.

“We’ve reached the point where @GlennYoungkin is going after high schoolers?” Virginia Democrats executive director Andrew Whitley posted in a now-deleted tweet on Sunday.

TheGrio is now on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today!