Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) is facing backlash from Republicans in his state over his call for lieutenant gubernatorial candidate John Reid to end his campaign over allegations he shared pornographic material online.
On Friday, Youngkin’s team confirmed the governor called Reid to ask him to step down as the nominee following a report that Republican researchers came across sexually explicit photos on Tumblr with the same username Reid uses on other accounts. Reid has adamantly denied the allegations and went as far on Monday as to accuse Youngkin’s team of extortion. Reid, who is openly gay, has also said the reason he is being targeted is because of his sexuality.
Other Virginia Republicans have flocked to Reid’s defense, calling Youngkin’s move an “unforced error.” The growing controversy is raising questions about Republicans’ path forward ahead of November’s election and Youngkin’s political future.
“The governor had not made it an issue, I’m not sure that any of us except for politicos would have heard about this story,” said Phil Kazmierczak, a Republican who was appointed by Youngkin to the state’s LGBTQ advisory board and who resigned over the controversy last week.
A number of Republicans have laid blame on Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC and his team for what they say was bad guidance.
“At the end of the day, what he cares about is winning,” said one national Republican strategist. “But the senior leadership around him needs to change because this was a complete unforced error.”
The saga initially unfolded last week when Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity shocked the Virginia Republican ecosystem by dropping out of the party’s lieutenant gubernatorial primary because of health issues, making Reid the GOP’s default nominee.
Things then took a turn when the Richmonder reported Youngkin called Reid directly on Thursday evening, asking him to drop out of the race. Reid told the local outlet on Friday “there were salacious pictures on the internet reposted by an account that uses my Instagram handle.”
“The Governor was made aware late Thursday of the disturbing online content. Friday morning, in a call with Mr. Reid, the Governor asked him to step down as the Lt. Governor nominee,” a spokesperson for Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC said in a statement.
But later on Friday, Reid posted a fiery video on the social platform X, detailing a conversation he had with “a local religious activist and two people I’ve known for several years” in which he was told there were photos that would “destroy” his life and that it was in his “best interest” to drop out of the race. When he asked for evidence, Reid said he was shown photos of him at a drag show in Richmond.
Reid said last week the “threats and public attacks” began again last week following Herrity’s exit from the race. The Richmonder first reported last week that Republican researchers found sexually explicit photos online that they believed to be of Reid, which prompted Youngkin to call the candidate.
“What I didn’t expect was the governor that I have always supported to call and demand my resignation without even showing me the supposed evidence offering me a chance to respond. I did not accept that and I deeply resent it,” Reid said.
Reid denied the account was his, adding that anyone on the internet can open accounts with the same or similar names as other accounts or people.
On Sunday, Reid ratcheted up his attacks on Youngkin, accusing his PAC of extortion in a second video posted to X.
“What colossal arrogance and abuse to a loyal fellow Republican and, like it or not, the declared legal nominee of our party,” Reid said. “Just like we saw against President Trump over the last eight years.”
The Hill has reached out to Youngkin’s PAC for comment.
A firestorm from fellow Virginia Republicans has since erupted, with some of the state’s county GOP parties publicly criticizing the governor’s call for Reid to step down.
“This looks like a hit job against a gay candidate that everyone knew was gay and nobody had a problem with it five months ago,” Arlington County GOP Chair Matthew Hurtt told The Hill in an interview.
Hurtt reiterated remarks he made in a separate statement that it is appropriate for the governor to make a call and have a frank conversation with any issue he sees as “potentially problematic.” However, the chair noted it is not appropriate for “an unelected, unaccountable consultant leaking the details of that call to the press to gin up a scandal,” adding that Reid is a “principled conservative.”
The Loudoun County GOP echoed this sentiment in a number of posts on X and has even begun selling “I support John Reid” and “In John Reid we trust” merchandise with proceeds going to Reid’s campaign.
“[Youngkin] has been open, he has been welcoming, he has been willing to listen. That is why it was so shocking that he would come down so hard on this issue,” Kazmierczak told The Hill. “I don’t think this is the governor’s doing. I think this is his consultants pushing him in this direction.”
Hurtt noted he does not view the controversy as an intraparty divide, but rather as Republicans united against efforts to oust Reid from the primary.
“Grassroots Republicans are unified,” Hurtt said. “What I’ve seen on social media over the weekend was that this has actually unified Republicans around John Reid.”
Youngkin’s defenders, on the other hand, maintain the governor’s call had nothing to do with Reid’s sexuality.
“He’s the governor and he’s got a right to say, ‘Hey I don’t like what I’ve seen, and I need a candidate that I think is viable,’” said John Fredericks, a conservative talk radio show host who chaired Trump’s Virginia presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2020.
“John Reid can’t win this race now,” he continued. “It doesn’t matter what the pictures are. This has nothing to do with John Reid’s sexuality or pictures or what he did or who it was with.”
Youngkin responded to the fallout during a press conference on fentanyl awareness on Tuesday, calling the alleged explicit photos involving Reid “a distraction.”
“It’s a distraction for campaigns and it’s a distraction from people paying attention to the mot important issues, and here we are today talking about fentanyl and saving lives and the distraction is present,” Youngkin said. “That’s why I called him on Friday morning.”
“And the decision is John’s and up to John,” the governor continued.
Earle-Sears echoed Youngkin’s remarks in a separate statement on Tuesday evening.
“This week, focus on the lieutenant governor nominee distracted from that mission and cannot continue,” Sears said, referring to the mission “to unite and inspire Virginians of all backgrounds.”
“John Reid is the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor. It is his race, and his decision alone to move forward. We all have our own race to run.”
Fredericks likened the controversy surrounding Reid to the one faced by former North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R) last year. Robinson stayed in the state’s governor’s race following allegations he made a number of inflammatory remarks on a pornography website’s message board over 10 years ago.
“We all stood behind [Robinson]. Guess what? He got blown out,” he said.
The talk show host said that Reid staying in the race was “a prescription for losing because it divides the party ahead of November’s elections.
Reid, whom Fredericks refers to as “a friend,” is slated to host Fredericks’s radio show for four hours on Thursday.
Fredericks estimated that roughly 75 percent of his listeners want Reid to stay in the race.
“I’m in the minority and I’m the host, but I don’t create the narrative for my audience,” he said. “I hope John opens it up to lots of phone calls and hear what people have to say.”
It’s unclear how much of an impact this will have on November’s elections. The controversy can arguably be described as an insider story that voters are not necessarily tuned into.
“Electorally, I don’t think it has that large of impact. It’s reputational that it has an impact,” the unnamed GOP national strategist said.
“I don’t think this has long-term impact unless the senior team stays in place depending on his future,” the strategist added.
