Governor responds to Trump social media post about him: 'I do not call people names'

RICHMOND — Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Friday fired back at former President Donald Trump for a social-media post where Trump claimed credit for last year's GOP sweep of Virginia statewide offices and even made fun of the way the governor's name is pronounced, saying it "sounds Chinese."

The govenor did not mention Trump specifically in his response, but he did tout his own ability "to bring people together."

"I do not call people names," Youngkin said.

Trump's comment, made on the Truth social media platform that he created after getting kicked off Twitter, came one day after Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle Sears publicly broke ranks with him. In the post, Trump did not mention Sears; instead, he took off on the person who headed the winning Republican ticket, claiming credit for the victory and also appearing to make fun of the way the governor's name is pronounced.

"Young Kin (now that's an interesting take. Sounds Chinese, doesn't it?) couldn't have won without me," Trump posted. "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."

In an interview with Fox News earlier this week, Sears — the first Black woman to be Virginia's lieutenant governor — was asked if she would support Trump if he runs as expected for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

“I could not support him. I just couldn’t,” she said in the interview. While she spoke highly of Trump's economic and public safety accomplishments during his term in office, Sears said the results of the midterm elections showed that Trump's influence over the party has severely waned.

Friday, Youngkin noted the outcome of the 2022 midterm elections where Republicans did not appear to get the "red wave" they were hoping for in Congress. Instead of taking over both the House and Senate, the GOP is poised to take over only the House; however, there still are many contests nationwide left to be decided.

"This is a moment for us to come together," Youngkin said. "As a nation, we still have some elections outstanding that haven't been finalized and we've got to find a forward."

The governor said that while the possibility of divided government exists in Washington "just like we have divided government in Virginia, we have proven that we can come together and get things done.”

In his successful campaign for the governorship last year, Youngkin would acknowledge Trump but never seemed to outrightly embrace him.

Trump ended his post with faint praise for Youngkin, however.

"Besides, [Youngkin is] having a hard time with the Dems in Virginia - But he’ll get it done!" Trump wrote.

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on Twitter at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Trump claims credit for Virginia's statewide GOP sweep last year