NORFOLK, Va. — Former President Donald Trump lashed out at Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on his social media platform, Truth Social, Friday morning, as rumors swirl about possible 2024 presidential runs for both.
In his comments, Trump made a racist remark and claimed Youngkin couldn't have won the 2021 gubernatorial race without his help.
The former president's comments were quickly trending on Twitter and remained a hot topic most of the day, most with more than 20,000 tweets.
This comes just a day after Virginia's Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears said in a TV interview that if Trump makes a third bid for the White House, she would not support him.
When answering reporter questions following an event in Richmond on Friday, Youngkin wouldn't directly address the Lieutenant Governor’s comments.
“Lt. Gov. Sears is a strong leader. I deeply, deeply respect her.. She is her own independent person,” he said. "I haven't made any comments on that."
At the same Richmond event, Youngkin told reporters that he hadn't seen Trump's remarks on social media and stressed that what he's focused on now is bringing everyone together post Election Day.
"One of the things that I did last year in my campaign -- and I was so incredibly humbled to be hired by Virginians -- was bring people together: forever Trumpers and never Trumpers, Libertarians and Tea Party members and Independents and a lot of Democrats. And that's what it takes to move forwad and that's where I'm focused."
A spokesperson for Youngkin's office sent the following statement regarding Trump's comments:
“I work really hard to bring people together, I do not call people names. This is a moment for us to come together. As a nation, we still have some elections outstanding that haven't been finalized and we've got to find a [way] forward. We are potentially going to have divided government in Washington and just like we have divided government in Virginia, we have proven that we can come together and get things done.”
Weeks before the 2022 midterm elections, Youngkin campaigned across the country for fellow Republicans running in competitive governor races. The out-of-state campaigning only furthered speculation that he will seek higher office beyond Virginia.
In interviews with Fox News and WJLA-TV, the ABC-affiliated news station in Washington, D.C. earlier this year, Youngkin didn't rule out the possibility of a 2024 presidential run but said he's still focused on his current job.