Is this the best Democrats can do in Virginia? A former washed-up governor who can’t handle a full twenty-minute local TV news interview days from Election Day? Both gubernatorial candidates, Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin, were given equal time to answer questions from a reporter at ABC 7, the local ABC affiliate for the Washington DC metro area reaching northern Virginia. Youngkin enjoyed his interview, answering every question he was asked.
McAuliffe, on the other hand, made it the 10-minute mark, then scolded the reporter for asking the wrong questions, and ended the interview early:
WOAH… pic.twitter.com/etuaciYVr6
— Henry Rodgers (@henryrodgersdc) October 19, 2021
It’s not an understatement to say McAuliffe is imploding in the race for Virginia governor. Ever since his “parents shouldn’t tell schools what to teach” gaffe, he’s been floundering to explain himself. The old saying goes, if you’re explaining, you’re losing, and McAuliffe has been stuck in “explaining” mode for almost a month now.
It got so bad, in fact, that McAuliffe cut an ad explaining that his direct quote was taken out of context, despite the fact that it wasn’t.
What a whiner this guy is. Don’t ask him to explain anything or take accountability for his previous record as governor of the state he’d like to govern again, that’s not allowed:
ABC affiliate WJLA-TV published in-depth interviews with McAuliffe and Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday, but noted that McAuliffe cut the 20 minute interview short just halfway through after being grilled on topics including vaccine mandates and the teaching of critical race theory.
In the interview recorded last week, a McAuliffe staffer is heard interjecting 10 minutes in to the scheduled 20-minute interview, prompting the candidate to cut short the questioning from reporter Nick Minock.
‘Alright, we are over. That’s it. That’s it. Hey I gave you extra time. C’mon man,’ McAuliffe tells the reporter. ‘You should have asked better questions early on. You should have asked questions your viewers care about.’
Sensing that his campaign seems to be doomed from his own doing, McAuliffe would rather take the bad press from closing down an interview early rather than stick his foot in his mouth repeatedly by trying to explain himself.
Getting angry at a reporter for asking the wrong questions just means the reporter didn’t ask the questions McAuliffe wanted to answer. Local TV news reporters are a different breed than sitting down with George Stephanopoulos or Lester Holt. Local reporters don’t care about a candidate’s agenda, they ask the questions viewers are asking them.
In this case, McAuliffe is being asked about the pertinent issues in the campaign, such as his statement that parents shouldn’t be involved in public education. Rather than taking it as an opportunity, McAuliffe fell apart and got angry at his surroundings for blowing his 10-point lead and opening the door for a sweeping Republican victory on November 2 in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Here’s the video of Terry McAuliffe’s interview where he walks out at the 10-minute mark:
Glenn Youngkin’s full 20-minute interview:
In case you’re interested, the transcripts are available on WJLA.com.
