At a campaign appearance in Northern Virginia this week, the slippery Trumpist candidate for Virginia's governor, Glenn Youngkin, invoked Jewish philanthropist George Soros' name in a speech about right-wing attacks on local school boards. According to the Washington Post:
"GOP gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin is facing allegations of antisemitism after accusing allies of Jewish philanthropist George Soros of a shadowy campaign to place secret political operatives onto Virginia school board. [snip]
....Youngkin tried to link Soros, his Democratic opponent Terry McAuliffe, and cultural debates roiling some suburban Northern Virginia public school systems. In particular, some parents are protesting equity initiatives they associate with critical race theory, an academic framework that examines how systemic racism is ingrained in the country’s history.
'The present chaos in our schools lays squarely at the feet of 40-year politician Terry McAuliffe. It just does,' Youngkin said at an appearance Tuesday night. 'But also at George Soros-backed allies, these allies that are in the left, liberal progressive movement. They’ve inserted political operatives into our school system disguised as school boards.'” (our emphasis)
The mention of George Soros is a perennial anti-Semitic trope for extreme right wingers, who want to evoke the image of powerful Jews manipulating politics with their wealth. In a bigoted twofer, Youngkin had brought up the "critical race theory" canard which is not being taught in Virginia, but is a popular racist straw man to rile up the base who are angrily descending on school boards nationwide.
Shape-shifting Youngkin's ads depict him as a moderate suburban dad, a far cry from his radical anti-womens' choice, anti-gun safety and anti-mask and vaccine mandates positions. He was caught on hidden camera earlier this year telling someone he thought was a supporter that he needed to stay away from the choice issue in order to gain independent votes, but saying once he's elected he won't go "squishy" on banning abortion.
The Virginia gubernatorial race is being closely watched by both parties as a bellwether for 2022 and 2024. It's imperative that Dem candidate McAulliffe overcome Youngkin's attempt to turn Virginia into a petri dish for Trumpist policies.
