Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe (D-VA), vying for his old job as governor, incorrectly accused Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) of rejecting the results of the 2020 presidential election.
McAuliffe claimed that Youngkin was “parroting Trump’s conspiracy theories about the 2020 election,” but the GOP nominee never bought into the baseless claims of a “stolen election.”
"He [Joe Biden] took the oath and was sworn in. He's sleeping in the White House," Youngkin told Fox Business in May.
During the GOP primary, he also created an “election integrity task force” to “ensure free and fair elections.”
McAuliffe, on the other hand, has a history of disputing the results of presidential elections. In 2000, after former President George W. Bush was ruled the victor of the general election, McAuliffe used his position as chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to question the legitimacy of Bush’s win. He claimed that the party’s base was “madder than heck” about the results, and believed “they were robbed.”
"Our base voters are madder than heck and think they were robbed. They worked their hearts and souls out in the presidential election only to have it taken from them," McAuliffe said in 2001, Fox news reported.
He went on to double down on the false claims, that were rebuked by the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore.
"Folks, you know it, I know it, they know it. "We won that election,” McAuliffe said to a crowd of Democratic donors in 2001. "And let’s never forget it.”
The Virginia gubernatorial race will take place in November, as Republicans hope to take back power.