President Trump said Virginia farmers wouldn’t be able to protect their crops if their Democratic governor continues to chip away at Second Amendment rights.
After being invited by a Virginia potato farmer to come visit, Trump joked Tuesday that his administration was “going after Virginia” in response to Gov. Ralph Northam signing a slate of gun control measures in April during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’re going after Virginia with your crazy governor. We’re going after Virginia,” Trump quipped to a round of laughter from farmers gathered at the White House to talk about the U.S. supply chain. “They want to take your Second Amendment away. You know that right? You’ll have nobody guarding your potatoes.”
Virginia has become a battleground state on the issue of gun control in the United States. In January, thousands of armed Virginians protested a rash of new gun control measures proposed by the Democratic-controlled General Assembly. Northam had called for restrictive legislation aimed at curbing gun rights after a shooting in Virginia Beach in May 2019.
Among the news bills adopted by the Virginia Legislature was the reinstatement of a former law that restricts Virginians to one handgun purchase a month and mandatory background checks for every firearm purchased in the state.
Northam fired back in a tweet dismissing the president’s concerns.
“I grew up on a Virginia farm, Mr. President — our potatoes are fine,” he wrote. “And as the only medical doctor among our nation’s governors, I suggest you stop taking hydroxychloroquine.”
I grew up on a Virginia farm, Mr. President—our potatoes are fine. And as the only medical doctor among our nation’s governors, I suggest you stop taking hydroxychloroquine.
Let’s all get back to work. https://t.co/eay8saxcK1
— Ralph Northam (@GovernorVA) May 19, 2020
Trump has harshly criticized Northam in the past, ripping the Democrat for his views on late-term abortion during this year’s March for Life event in Washington.
“Then we had the case of the Democrat governor in the state of Virginia, the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Trump said at the anti-abortion rally in January. “We love the Commonwealth of Virginia, but what is going on in Virginia? What is going on? The governor stated that he would execute a baby after birth. You remember that.”
