A top Virginia Democrat refuses to support the candidacy of Joe Biden because Biden’s allies in the state “orchestrated false racist allegations” to stunt his candidacy to be the next governor.
Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who was twice accused of sexual assault during the fallout of Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s blackface scandal in 2019, tweeted about Biden two days before Virginia’s contest on Super Tuesday.
He name-dropped former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, both of whom have endorsed Biden.
“.@JoeBiden, I’ve considered voting for you, but @TerryMcAuliffe & his self-acclaimed political ‘son’ @LevarStoney orchestrated racist false allegations against the second Black LG of VA to try to stop my rise to Governor,” Fairfax said Sunday evening. “Black people are tired of this routine.”
.@JoeBiden, I’ve considered voting for you, but @TerryMcAuliffe & his self-acclaimed political “son” @LevarStoney orchestrated racist false allegations against the second Black LG of VA to try to stop my rise to Governor. Black people are tired of this routine. #Next400Years https://t.co/Eu3r1VjsU9
— Justin Fairfax (@FairfaxJustin) March 2, 2020
McAuliffe, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is one of the highest-profile Democratic strategists in the country, and Stoney’s name has been put forward as a potential contender for the Virginia governorship in 2021.
Last year, Vanessa Tyson accused Fairfax of forcing her to perform oral sex on him in a hotel room at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. Days later, a second woman, Meredith Watson, claimed Fairfax raped her while they were both students at Duke University in 2000. Fairfax denied the allegations and took a polygraph test in March, the results of which he shared to bolster his defense.
When a reporter asked Fairfax if Stoney played a role in the emergence of allegations, he said, “You’re great reporters, and you’ll get to digging, and you’ll get to make some connections.”
Biden, who had a strong first-place showing in the South Carolina primary, is trailing Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in Virginia primary polling.
