‘Chinese’ taunt vs. ‘Young kin’
Donald Trump ranted Friday against Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, saying his last name “Sounds Chinese” and claiming the governor “couldn’t have won without me” last year.
“Young Kin (now that’s an interesting take. Sounds Chinese, doesn’t it?) in Virginia couldn’t have won without me,” the 45th president said in a series of posts on Truth Social. “I Endorsed him, did a very big Trump Rally for him telephonically, got MAGA to Vote for him – or he couldn’t have come close to winning.
“But he knows that and admits it. Besides, having a hard time with the Dems in Virginia – But he’ll get it done,” Trump added.
While Trump called into a phone rally for Youngkin during the governor’s campaign, he never physically came to Virginia to stump for him. Youngkin narrowly upset Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the commonwealth’s gubernatorial race, a win many political pundits attributed to Youngkin successfully keeping Trump at arm’s length.
When asked for a response Friday, Youngkin (pictured) said Trump’s insults were “not the way I roll and not the way I behave.”
“I really work hard to bring people together and that’s what we’re working on,” the governor said. “I think, again, this is a moment for us to come together as a nation.”
It’s not the first time the former president has slammed members of his own party with racial remarks. On Sept. 20, Trump called his former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, wife of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), “Chinaloving . . . Coco Chow,” a remark many considered racist.
Friday’s bizarre statement followed a Thursday broadside from Trump aimed at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ahead of the former president’s expected announcement on Nov. 15 that he will run for the White House in 2024.
“Now that the Election in Florida is over, and everything went quite well, shouldn’t it be said that in 2020, I got 1.1 Million more votes in Florida than Ron D got this year, 5.7 Million to 4.6 Million? Just asking?”
While the statement is technically true, about 3.3 million more Floridians cast ballots in 2020 than in 2022, a trend commonly seen in presidential elections. DeSantis also secured a greater percentage of the Florida vote in 2022 than Trump did in 2020, with the governor winning reelection by 19.4% over Democrat Charlie Crist. By contrast, Trump edged President Biden by 3.3% in the Sunshine State.
Hours later, Trump accused the Florida governor of “playing games” about his own potential 2024 run, calling him “Ron DeSanctimonious.”
“The Fake News asks him if he’s going to run if President Trump runs, and he says, ‘I’m only focused on the Governor’s race, I’m not looking into the future,’ ” Trump said. “Well, in terms of loyalty and class, that’s really not the right answer . . .”