Virginia GOP gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin hit out at his democratic rival, Terry McAuliffe, for hiring Marc Elias, a high-profile attorney who has worked on a number of notable election challenges.
Youngkin appeared on Fox News on Sunday night to discuss McAuliffe's hiring of Elias, who previously served as general counsel for Hillary Clinton. The lawyer has worked on a number of cases where Democrats have sought to overturn election results and he has helped challenge Republican-backed restrictions on voting in states such as Texas.
In December 2020, Elias worked with Democratic candidate Rita Hart as she attempted to get a recount in Iowa's 2nd Congressional District after she lost to GOP Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks by just six votes. Hart and Elias claimed that 22 ballots were not counted in the vote.
On Sunday, Fox News' Mark Levin suggested that McAuliffe had hired Elias because the Democrats are "going to try to do everything they can to undo" the closely contested election in Virginia, while asking Youngkin if he's concerned.
"This is right out of his playbook. I mean, he wrote it, and this is what a failing politician does when they see the sun setting on their 43-year political career," Youngkin replied.
"The Virginia voters are absolutely making a bold statement. And this is not going to be a close election, you can just see us pulling away.
"This is going to be a big statement and a lawyer here and there that my opponent hires is not going to make a difference because this is going to be an overwhelming victory."
Youngkin's claim that he is "pulling away" from the election appears to be a reference to a recent Fox News poll that put him eight points ahead of McAuliffe just days before the November 2 vote.
Neither Youngkin nor Levin discussed how former President Donald Trump—who is backing Youngkin in the election, but has yet to campaign with him—orchestrated the so-called big lie that he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden because of widespread voter fraud, promoting a number of audits in several states in a desperate attempt to overturn the election.
As noted by Mediaite, Elias has even been hired by Biden's campaign and the Democratic National Committee to respond to dozens of Trump's lawsuits attempting to overturn the election results in a number of states. Many of the challenges were thrown out by judges appointed by the former president himself.
McAuliffe's campaign team has been contacted for comment.
