ROANOKE, VA – Democrat gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe responded angrily to a question from a Virginia sheriff on Wednesday who asked him about his acceptance of endorsements from left-wing groups who support defunding the police.
WATCH: Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe lashes out and attacks Virginia sheriff after sheriff asks about McAuliffe’s embrace of defund the police movement. #vagov #vapol pic.twitter.com/QvhFe2QRZH
— Devin O’Malley (@devin_omalley) September 16, 2021
McAuliffe, who served as governor from 2014 to 2018, was confronted by Montgomery County Sheriff Hank Partin Wednesday while speaking at a Virginia Sheriffs Association event.
Sheriff Partin asked the Democratic politician why McAuliffe would say he supports law enforcement, but then accepted endorsements from the progressive group New Virginia Majority.
The sheriff noted:
“On July 20, you accepted an endorsement from the New Virginia Majority. They are a large, ‘defund the police’ organization, who want to abolish prisons and (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) ICE. You’ve said that you were proud to accept their endorsement.”
Terry McAuliffe Snaps At Virginia Sheriff For Asking About His Ties To ‘Defund The Police’ Grouphttps://t.co/UZfcYyB7cD
— The Federalist (@FDRLST) September 16, 2021
McAuliffe said he accepted all endorsements and then went on to attack the sheriff for even asking the question:
“Now first of all sheriff, I proudly accept any endorsements, I get hundreds and hundreds and hundreds.
“Groups that support me, I don’t know whether they do. Have I ever supported ‘defund the police’? Are you out of your mind?”
I’ve invested in law enforcement – I just went through 25 minutes of telling you what I do for the police. Not defunded, I funded them!”
McAuliffe could have trouble defending that statement, as he once posted on Twitter that he was proud of the group’s endorsement. Following the New Virginia Majority’s endorsement of him in the 2021 gubernatorial race, he posted:
“Proud to be endorsed by (New Virginia Majority). Together, we are going to keep Virginia moving forward. That starts with building a more inclusive Commonwealth that lifts up working people across Virginia. Onward!”
Proud to be endorsed by @NewVAMajority. Together, we are going to keep Virginia moving forward. That starts with building a more inclusive Commonwealth that lifts up working people across Virginia. Onward! pic.twitter.com/TjCkewmor1
— Terry McAuliffe (@TerryMcAuliffe) July 20, 2021
The sheriff countered with exasperation:
“Unbelievable. I don’t believe an answer to either one of those questions.”
McAuliffe, clearly bothered by the questioning, shot back:
“Well, I don’t care what you believe. I’ve got a track record. And I’m proud of that track record and I funded the police. I’ve never been for defund the police, so don’t bring your political rhetoric in here to me. I’ve got a record. I deal in facts!”
Before the heated exchange, McAuliffe was touting his support for law enforcement to the group of law enforcement professionals at the gathering in the Hotel Roanoke:
“I got out of bed every single day, wanting to make sure that our communities were safe. I could go for issue after issue after issue where I stood up for the sheriffs, and I will continue to do it.”
Dem Candidate Terry McAuliffe Snaps After Local Sheriff Exposes His Ties to Cop-Hating Organization https://t.co/F9g8Rqr8Jf
— Tea Party Patriots (@TPPatriots) September 18, 2021
The New Virginia Majority’s Twitter feed supports Partin’s accusations. The organization repeatedly calling for defunding law enforcement and abolishing ICE. One post by the group read:
“Defund the police and invest in education, health care, and housing for our communities!”
McAuliffe’s political opponent for governor, Glenn Youngkin, commented on the exchange through his campaign spokesman Christian Martinez:
“McAuliffe turned his back on law enforcement officers by refusing to meet with the Virginia Police Benevolent Association and embracing radical groups that want to defund the police and abolish prisons.
“McAuliffe failed to keep Virginians safe the last time he was governor, and he will fail again with his anti-police policies that are too dangerous and extreme for Virginia.”
Virginia lieutenant governor claims he was treated like George Floyd, Emmett Till over sexual assault allegations
April 10, 2021
The following article contains editorial content written by a current staff writer for Law Enforcement Today
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PETERSBURG, VA – During the state of Virginia’s recent Democratic gubernatorial debate, Virginia Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax likened his plight when dealing with sexual assault allegations from 2019 to that of being treated as though he were Emmett Till or George Floyd.
Minus you being alive. And ‘believe women’ 🙄👉Va. Lt. Gov. Fairfax says he was treated like George Floyd, Emmett Till over sexual assault allegations https://t.co/K7t3KexOUh
— Jon Nicosia (@NewsPolitics) April 7, 2021
On April 6th, Virginia’s Democratic gubernatorial debate took place at Virginia State University in Petersburg. As the hour-long televised debate neared its end, Fairfax was answering a question with regard to envisioning the future of policing.
During said delivered answer, Fairfax segued into highlighting the death of George Floyd and correlating that incident to being emblematic to the alleged predicament suffered by black Americans when dealing with police:
“The murder of George Floyd was horrific. But it recalls a history in Virginia and in our nation where African Americans, in particular African American men, are presumed to be guilty, are treated inhumanely, are given no due process and have their lives impacted, in some cases taken away in an instant.”
While Fairfax’s characterization of the death of George Floyd is pretty run-of-the-mill in terms of modern day politi-speak, he then latched on to the mentioning of “no due process” to then correlate that to allegations that were brought against him back in 2019.
For those unaware of these 2019 allegations that were lodged against Fairfax, a woman by the name of Meredith Watson alleged that Fairfax had raped her while they were attending Duke University together in 2000.
Another woman, Vanessa Tyson, alleged that Fairfax had forced her to perform oral sex on him while they were at the Democratic National Convention in Boston back in 2004.
When Fairfax raised these past allegations against him, he claimed that those who called for his immediate resignation following the then-unsubstantiated allegations was tantamount to him being treated like Emmett Till and George Floyd:
“Everyone here on the stage called for my immediate resignation, including Terry McAuliffe three minutes after a press release came out. He treated me like George Floyd; he treated me like Emmett Till — no due process, immediately assumed my guilt.
I have a son and a daughter. I don’t ever want my daughter to be assaulted, I don’t want my son to be falsely accused. And yet this is the real world that we live in.”
While Fairfax did genuinely endure some harsh scrutiny and criticism when those allegations surfaced back in 2019, which included folks flailing their proverbial pitchforks and calling for his resignation, it probably would have been more tactful to just characterize that experience as being devoid of “due process” and leave it at that.
In a legal sense, the verdict isn’t out yet on whether George Floyd simply died, or he was killed by Derek Chauvin.
But even acknowledging that ambiguity regarding that case, it’s simply not smart to compare one’s dealing with frivolous allegations of sexual assaults to that of someone that many believe to have been unjustly murdered.
Even if one were to completely ignore his self-comparison to George Floyd, Fairfax did have the audacity to proclaim that he was treated like Emmett Till.
I cannot believe Justin Fairfax compared his sexual assault allegations (unprompted, mind you) to Emmet Till and George Floyd
— 🅱️izza 🅿️oli’s (@hamms_son) April 6, 2021
Emmett Till was murdered by two men over an allegation that he whistled at a white woman walking by, and the two men wound up being that woman’s husband and brother. But the manner in which he was murdered was simply horrid.
It was back on August 28th of 1955 in Money, Mississippi when 14-year-old Emmett Till was forced to carry a 75-pound cotton gin fan to the bank of the Tallahatchie River, where he was then instructed to remove his clothing by the two men.
These two men then nearly beat Emmett Till to death, gouged out one of his eyes, and then shot him in the head. His body was then thrown into the Tallahatchie River after his murderers had tied the cotton gin fan to his body.
Hmm. Wouldn’t be inclined to a candidate for office who compared Emmett Till to a politician’s blacklisting.
There are similarities that could be used at arm’s length to tarnish the accusations, but bringing George Floyd in makes it overreach.https://t.co/QbG7Qxn9FN @nbcnews
— George Levin (@GLevin023) April 7, 2021
So for Fairfax to compare his dealings with false allegations levied against him, even to the point where it spawned calls for his resignation, is completely absurd.
Emmett Till was murdered brutally over a lie. Lt. Governor Fairfax had to engage in political damage control over some false allegations. Those two sets of experiences are not even in the same galaxy of comparable instances.
Furthermore, anyone entering the realm of politics, or looking to move up in the world of, gets their fair share of hit pieces and slander/libel campaigns that attempt to attribute unsavory acts to them.
Fairfax having to navigate around such instances is not a unique experience, and certainly not one comparable to that of a boy who never got to see his 15th birthday because he was murdered solely for being accused of flirting with a white woman in 1955.
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