Youngkin campaign criticized for Twitter spat with teenager
The Associated Press

February 6, 2022, 8:24 PM

Virginia Politics

Youngkin campaign attacks high school student on Twitter

By Laura Vozzella
Yesterday at 3:56 p.m. EST | Updated yesterday at 5:47 p.m. EST

RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s campaign lashed out at a high school student as well as Democrat Ralph Northam on Twitter this weekend, tweeting out the teen’s name and photo after the boy shared a news story about part of the Executive Mansion where enslaved workers once lived. ... On Saturday afternoon, Ethan Lynne, 17, retweeted a report from the Richmond public radio station VPM suggesting that Youngkin (R) might be scrapping efforts pursued under two previous governors, Northam and Democrat Terry McAuliffe, to highlight the history of enslaved people at the mansion. The report contained an error, which Lynne noted on Twitter hours later, when VPM issued a correction.

But by then, “Team Youngkin” — the official Twitter account for Youngkin’s campaign — had attacked Lynne, posting a photo of the teen with Northam taken at a Democratic fundraiser in October. ... “Here’s a picture of Ethan with a man that had a Blackface/KKK photo in his yearbook,” Team Youngkin tweeted a little before 5 p.m., pairing the October photo with a racist picture from Northam’s 1984 medical school yearbook that surfaced in 2019.

Link to tweet

The tweet drew immediate backlash from Democrats, who called on Youngkin to apologize to Lynne. The attack on Youngkin’s predecessor drew less notice because Northam is a public figure and adult, although it ran counter to Youngkin’s public expressions of thanks toward the Democrat for an “incredibly cooperative” transition. ... Team Youngkin removed the tweet late Sunday morning but offered no apology.

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The controversy stemmed from a pair of VPM news stories related to the historical quarters for enslaved people in a building adjacent to the mansion. On Wednesday, VPM reported that historian and archaeologist Kelley Fanto Deetz, who worked to reinterpret the site under Northam, arrived to work there last month to find her office emptied. She was unsure if she had a job under Youngkin, the report said. .... As the story of Deetz’s resignation drew more notice Saturday, Porter pushed back on the claim about the family room. VPM’s Ben Paviour issued a correction that evening. ... “Important correction to my stories on Exec. Mansion: Youngkin’s team says he hasn’t converted an educational space -> family room, and I’ve verified that,” he wrote. “Frustrating to learn this 2+ weeks after I emailed them about it, but I also should’ve dug more.” ... Lynne promptly retweeted Paviour’s correction: “Update: It appears the ‘family’ room thing is TBD, still looks as though her office was emptied however.”

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

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By Laura Vozzella
Laura Vozzella covers Virginia politics for The Washington Post. Before joining The Post, she was a political columnist and food writer at the Baltimore Sun, and she has also worked for the Associated Press, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Hartford Courant. Twitter https://twitter.com/@LVozzella