Democratic Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe is so desperate to stop his Republican opponent Glenn Youngkin from winning the election that his supporters have resorted to planting false flag operations at Youngkin’s events in an effort to smear him.
A local NBC reporter shared a picture on Friday morning of a group of people dressed to resemble protesters from the violent 2018 Charlottesville riot. The point, it seems, was to tie Youngkin’s campaign to right-wing extremism or white supremacy:
These men approached @GlennYoungkin’s bus as it pulled up saying what sounded like, “We’re all in for Glenn.” Here they are standing in front of the bus as his campaign event at Guadalajara started.@NBC29 pic.twitter.com/l681ejyBjc
— Elizabeth Holmes (@holmes_reports) October 29, 2021
Not one of these actors is affiliated with Youngkin’s campaign. They’re not even Youngkin supporters. They appear to be Democrats and employees of the Virginia Democratic Party.
One of the men in the group has been unofficially identified as Camden Layton, the finance director for Virginia Young Democrats:
Let’s take a look at this gentleman. He bears a strong resemblance to one Camden Layton, otherwise known as the finance director for @vayd.
Coincidence? I report, you decide. pic.twitter.com/CAlX25hPEX
— Alec Sears (@alec_sears) October 29, 2021
The girl in the group has been unofficially identified as Colleen Wachenfeld, another Virginia Democrats employee whose background on Twitter was a picture of McAuliffe at a campaign event:
? I am now confident that we have identified the woman in this group of political actors as Colleen Wachenfeld, with @vademocrats. pic.twitter.com/qySknRSUrd
— Alec Sears (@alec_sears) October 29, 2021
As soon as their names began to circulate on Twitter, Layton and Wachenfeld scrubbed all of their social media to remove any mention of the Virginia Democratic Party or McAuliffe:
UPDATE: The staffer has now removed her picture as well as her bio stating she works for @vademocrats. What the f is going on? https://t.co/UumytBFUr8 pic.twitter.com/1YmFoAcFK7
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) October 29, 2021
While the Virginia Democratic Party has denied any direct involvement, all of the evidence suggests that leftist activists, either affiliated or unaffiliated with the party, were responsible.
So, Virginia Democrats know there’s a real chance they are going to lose next Tuesday. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be trying to fool people with this silly AstroTurfing attempt at making Youngkin look like a racist because he associates with … people who appear to be Virginia Democrats.
This sleazy campaign tactic won’t work. Unlike McAuliffe, Youngkin is too good of a guy to be smeared.
This stunt only reinforces that McAuliffe, in contrast, is a liar and a sleaze and the worst kind of politician. He deserves to lose.
Editor’s Note: Language has been added to make clear that the identities of the activists who posed at Youngkin’s rally have not been definitively proven, and that Virginia Democratic Party officials denied they were involved in the organization and execution of the photo-op.
