President Donald Trump on Thursday said that Ed Gillespie, the Republican nominee in Virginia’s race for governor, is “strong on crime” and may protect Southern “statues” and “heritage.”
“Ed Gillespie will be a great Governor of Virginia,” Trump tweeted. “Strong on crime, he might even save our great statues/heritage.”
Ed Gillespie will turn the really bad Virginia economy #'s around, and fast. Strong on crime, he might even save our great statues/heritage!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 26, 2017
Ed Gillespie will be a great Governor of Virginia. His opponent doesn't even show up to meetings/work, and will be VERY weak on crime!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 26, 2017
“Don’t talk to me about showing up,” Virginia Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D), Gillespie’s opponent, responded.
I served 8 years in the Army, took care of sick kids, and am running to build a more inclusive Virginia. Don't talk to me about showing up. https://t.co/jzDx9bS6mh
— Ralph Northam (@RalphNortham) October 26, 2017
Gillespie has accused Northam of wanting to tear down Virginia’s Confederate monuments. One Democratic strategist characterized Gillespie’s campaign to TPM as “full Donald Trump primal scream racism.”
One person died in August after white nationalists gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia, to protest the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue in a public park.
Trump in August was hesitant to formally condemn white nationalism in the wake of the violence in Charlottesville, and claimed there were “fine people” on both sides of the issue.
He also defended Confederate statues, and claimed they bring “beauty” to public parks and are symbolic of the “history and culture” of the United States.
At a rally in Phoenix in August, Trump went further and claimed those calling for the statues’ removal are “trying to take away our culture.”
“They’re trying to take away our history,” Trump said. “These things have been there for 150 years, for a hundred years.”
