After Ed Gillespie’s decisive loss to Democrat opponent Ralph Northam Tuesday, President Trump took to Twitter—from South Korea—to distance himself from the Republican.
“Ed Gillespie worked
hard but did not embrace me or what I stand for,” Trump said. “Don’t forget,
Republicans won 4 out of 4 House seats, and with the economy doing record
numbers, we will continue to win, even bigger than before!”
Gillespie, who was once
chairman of the Republican National Committee, also kept a distance from the
president, only embracing campaign styles that worked for Trump in the 2016
election, such as focusing on immigration and identity politics, slamming
Northam for his stance on so-called sanctuary cities, for example.
But the Virginia
Republican never had Trump campaign with him and it wasn't until the last
minute that Gillespie enlisted the president's help through robocalls, talking
about their similar views on crime and immigration. Gillespie, Trump said in
one recorded call, would help “Make America Great Again.” Furthermore, he
explained his Democratic opponent would be a “total disaster” for the
commonwealth.
Gillespie also only got
a few tweets from the president throughout the race.
Earlier Tuesday Trump
urged Virginians to vote, writing, “@EdWGillespie will totally turn around the
high crime and poor economic performance of VA."
He also slammed Northam
for what he'd do to Virginia.
Last month, Trump
tweeted a similar message.
“Ralph Northam, who is
running for Governor of Virginia, is fighting for the violent MS-13 killer
gangs & sanctuary cities.”
