VA Governor Chimes In On Tweet From His Campaign Team Attacking Teenager

RICHMOND, VA — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s campaign team used social media Saturday night to attack a high school senior who volunteers for Democrats in the state, leading the governor to distance himself from the “unauthorized tweet” on Monday.

Youngkin’s campaign tweeted a photo of the student with former Gov. Ralph Northam, noting Northam’s racist yearbook picture that surfaced in 2019.

“On Saturday night, an unauthorized tweet came from a campaign account,” Youngkin wrote in his tweet on Monday. “I regret that this happened and it shouldn’t have. I have addressed it with my team. We must continue to work to bring Virginians together. There is so much more that unites us than divides us.”

Earlier Saturday, the 17-year-old, Ethan Lynne of Hanover County, tweeted a news report from a Richmond public radio station that Youngkin might be ending efforts at the governor’s mansion to highlight the history of enslaved people at the mansion.

The report contained an error, which the reporter of the article, Ben Paviour, noted on Twitter hours later, when radio station VPM issued a correction.

Youngkin’s campaign account responded to Ethan’s tweet, lashing out at the 17-year-old. “Here’s a picture of Ethan with a man that had a Blackface/KKK photo in his yearbook,” the tweet from the Team Youngkin account read.

On Sunday, Youngkin’s campaign deleted the tweet after state lawmakers and others questioned why the governor’s campaign team would single out a teenager who shared a news article. That morning, an employee with a Republican political firm that managed Youngkin's campaign issued a statement on why the campaign decided to delete the tweet.

"It was brought to attention that this Democrat Party official repeatedly elevated by Senator Louise Lucas as a source of official Democrat Party communications is actually a minor, so the tweet was removed," said Matt Wolking of Axiom Strategies, according to Paviour, a state politics reporter with Richmond public radio station VPM.

Ethan has interned and volunteered for Democrats in the state during his time as a high school student, though has not held paid positions as a Democratic Party official.

"While he acknowledged the situation, Governor Youngkin did not apologize and did not condemn what happened over the weekend," Ethan wrote in a tweet Monday morning in response to Youngkin's tweet. "I still hope he does, and that he will take time to recognize the culture of toxicity he has created within his first month of office."

Sen. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth), president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate, used Twitter over the weekend to complain about the governor's campaign team attacking Ethan.

"The Governor is attacking a high school student," Lucas said Saturday night. "Governor - this is a disgrace and you owe Ethan a public apology immediately."

In response to Youngkin’s statement Monday morning, Lucas responded: “Much better. Thank you. Let’s try this next time without it having to trend as the number one story nationally before you commented. … Also, I hope an apology directly to [Ethan] is forthcoming.”

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