The race for the seat as Governor of Virginia is on, and it seems that Donald Trump is taking a side, no matter how he gets that point across. Via his favorite platform—Twitter, Trump stated that one of the candidates is in support of MS-13. Trump said “Ralph Northam, who is running for Governor of Virginia, is fighting for the violent MS-13 killer gangs & sanctuary cities. Vote Ed Gillespie!” The Washington Post noted that Ed Gillespie’s campaign began running ads in September 2017 saying that Northam was tied to MS-13 gangs based on his support for “sanctuary cities.” One of the ads went as far as showing an image of Northam alongside allegedly MS-13 gang members. Because of that, Gillespie faced criticism and backlash.
Northam’s campaign did not take the slight from Trump too well and hit him with the rapid response. David Turner, a spokesman for Northam, said “They both want to cut funding to education, roll back healthcare, and divide Virginians for political gains. Looks like Ed Gillespie’s ads are reaching his target audience - Donald Trump.” One of Gillespie’s ad’s show the gang’s alleged motto “Kill. Rape. Control.” There is no telling how Trump’s endorsement for Gillespie will turn out. Previously, Trump endorsed Senator Luther Strange, but then deleted all tweets related to the senator after he lost the election.
