Former President Donald Trump claims that Youngkin’s victory in Virginia’s gubernatorial election this week was in part due to Trump’s endorsement after Democrats put him “on the ballot” in Virginia.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News, the former president said Democrats “played it wrong” after going after him in the elections and profusely using his name — “so much that they ended up losing.”
“If you look at what happened in Virginia, it’s very interesting… One of the reasons [McAuliffe] lost is because he kept saying Trump, Trump, Trump. And the greatest base in the history of politics came out at a level that they never would have if he wasn’t so foolish — and I’m using a nice word — foolish,“ Trump said.
“They used my name — the Democrats — so much that they ended up losing.“
Trump called McAuliffe a terrible candidate on the Democrat side, and boasted that Republican Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin was a “very good candidate.“
“The people of Virginia are angry, and the reason we won that state — number one — we had a good candidate and a nice guy and somebody who was really, very gracious, but you also had the MAGA voters come out in force because they're tired of it, and they voted, and they made the difference,“ Trump said.
According to Trump, Youngkin took the time to call him the morning after the election to thank him “because he understood the importance of what we did.“
“So, it helped him a lot with the nomination, and it helped him a lot with the win,“ Trump said, referring to his endorsement of Youngkin.
“And the Democrats played it wrong because they went after Trump. They put me on the ballot. The Democrats put me on the ballot.“
In response to former President Barack Obama’s appearance on the campaign trail, Trump said Virginians “don’t have time to be wasting on these phony, trumped-up culture wars.“
“What happened in Virginia was quite unthinkable.“
Trump also blasted the Biden administration again, revealing he genuinely wanted it to succeed for the sake of the United States, but he doesn’t think “there’s ever been a greater embarrassment as an administration, and we had everything ready to go.“
“I think you have to say an F, and not an F+. It would be an F. It’s a failed administration. It’s a disaster. I’ve never seen anything like it.“