Virginia gubernatorial GOP candidate Glenn Youngkin released a political campaign advertisement shooting down comments from Democratic opponent Terry McAuliffe, who accused the Republican of "taking my words out of context" on the issue of parents having a say in their child's education.
The ad, released Monday by the Youngkin campaign, shows seven instances in which McAuliffe, in his own words, expressed his opposition to parents being able to dictate what is taught in their children's schools.
"I'm not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decision," McAuliffe said during a Sept. 28 debate. "I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach."
This comes after McAuliffe launched an ad earlier on Monday claiming that his words were being misconstrued by the Younkin campaign."As parents, Dorothy and I have always been involved in our kids’ education," McAuliffe said in the ad. "We know good schools depend on involved parents. That’s why I want you to hear this from me. Glenn Youngkin is taking my words out of context. I’ve always valued the concerns of parents."
"It’s why as governor we scaled back standardized testing, expanded pre-K, and invested a billion dollars in public schools," he continued.
“That’s why I want you to hear this from me, Glenn Youngkin is taking my words out of context,” @TerryMcAuliffe says in a new ad pic.twitter.com/2ke4pyiD8x
— Brandon Jarvis (@Jaaavis) October 18, 2021
As the Nov. 2 election nears, polls show the race to be extremely tight, with Youngkin leading by less than a single point in a Friday poll from the Trafalgar Group and McAuliffe with a five-point edge in a recent Fox News poll.
According to the Fox News poll, 57 percent of Virginia parents believe that parents should be telling schools what to teach their children.
Virginia parents have increasingly been showing up to school board meetings to express their frustration with school stances on transgender policies, mask mandates, sexually explicit books in libraries and critical race theory, which asserts that white people are privileged while people of color are oppressed.
A recent memorandum from the Department of Justice that announced a "partnership among federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement to address threats against school administrators, board members, teachers and staff" has also drawn the ire of parents.
Youngkin slammed the DOJ memorandum in a separate ad from last week, in which he said that it is "wrong" for the Federal Bureau of Investigations to "silence" parents.