Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin’s political team is under fire after hitting out at a high school student who had criticised the governor on Twitter.
On Saturday, 17-year-old Ethan Lynn posted about the Republican’s decision to convert a room in the Richmond, Virginia governor’s mansion that had been used by an on-site historian to teach about the state’s history of slavery into a family room.
He wrote that the historian had “just resigned” after discovering the loss of her classroom, and had also emptied her office.
Sharing the report, Ethan added that the action was “shameful”.
In response, the official “Team Youngkin” account run by political staff associated with the governor’s successful 2021 campaign replied: “Here’s a picture of Ethan with a man that had a Blackface/KKK photo in his yearbook,” with two photos attached — one of Ethan and former governor Ralph Northam, and another of a man in blackface and a man in a Ku Klux Klan costume, one of whom is believed to be Mr Northam.
The inclusion of Ethan’s photo required a Youngkin campaign staffer to actively look for that photograph in order to attack the teenager.
While the Youngkin campaign account later deleted the reply to Ethan, on Sunday he said he had not received any communication from Mr Youngkin’s office.
“In school, we are taught how to spot bullying, and their tweet last night, perfectly fit that description,” he wrote in a subsequent statement.
“It is disgusting, disturbing, and unbecoming of the Commonwealth to see the Governor and his office stoop this low, especially on a public platform.
Mr Youngkin’s press secretary, Macaulay Porter, wrote in a reply to Ethan’s tweet that the classroom “has not been transformed into a living room” because the Youngkin family is still “finalizing the executive mansion layout and tours”.
He added that the historian’s desk had been moved by the previous mansion director and said “nothing” had been moved by Mr Youngkin’s staff.
Mr Youngkin addressed the controversy on Monday morning with a tweet disclaiming responsibility for attacking the teen.
The governor said the tweet from his campaign account had been “unauthorised”.
“I regret that this happened and it shouldn’t have. I have addressed it with my team,” he said.
