LANEXA, Va. — The national Republican Party has increasingly embraced former President Donald Trump's false claims of fraud in the 2020 election.
Its leaders have made baseless claims that the presidential election was stolen a litmus test for political survival within its own ranks.
But the party's nominee in the Virginia governor's race, Glenn Youngkin, is trying to pivot away from that.
Advisers close to Youngkin want to make the election coming up in November about anything but the former president in a state that solidly backed Democratic Joe Biden.
Still, distancing himself from Trump may mean alienating the former president's base — which Youngkin will also need to stay competitive.
