A 17-year old high school student who was repeatedly cyberbullied by Glenn Youngkin‘s political campaign team over the weekend is blasting the Virginia GOP governor for only acknowledging the attack while not even bothering to reach out or apologize.
“While he acknowledged the situation, Governor Youngkin did not apologize and did not condemn what happened over the weekend,” said Ethan Lynne, the Virginia high school senior who was the target of an ugly attack by Youngkin’s campaign. “I still hope he does, and that he will take time to recognize the culture of toxicity he has created within his first month of office.”
Late Monday morning Gov. Youngkin acknowledged the attack via his Twitter account. He did not give any details, nor did he say if any steps would be taken against those who perpetrated the scheme.
“On Saturday night, an unauthorized tweet came from a campaign account. I regret that this happened and it shouldn’t have. I have addressed it with my team. We must continue to work to bring Virginians together. There is so much more that unites us than divides us.”
Indeed, on Saturday the official verified account of the Youngkin campaign, “Team Youngkin,” posted this tweet in response to Lynne merely tweeting out an article, and calling the actions “shameful.” The photo is of Youngkin’s Democratic predecessor, who survived a Blackface scandal.
(The author of the piece later amended the article to say the space was not turned into a family room. Lynne also tweeted that correction out.)
Sometime after midnight, the tweet was deleted but not before outrage and rebukes from Democratic lawmakers and many others on social media.
The Youngkin campaign told The Washington Post they considered the 17-year old high school student a “Democrat Party official,” which he is not, and despite his bio clearly stating he is a high school student, they claim they were not aware he is a minor.