Glenn Youngkin Skipping Virginia Gubernatorial Debate, Moderator Compromised

Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin will not participate in the upcoming debate by the Virginia Bar Association due to the moderator’s donation history.

Youngkin’s campaign announced Monday that due to “PBS Newshour” host and debate moderator Judy Woodruff’s past donations to the Clinton Foundation’s Haiti earthquake relief fund, he will not participate in the debate.

Macaulay Porter, a spokesperson for Youngkin, told the Hill that participating in the debate would be a “conflict of interest to have former Clinton Foundation board member Terry McAuliffe being ‘questioned’ by a Clinton Foundation donor.”

Former Virginia Gov. McAuliffe, as the current Democrat nominee for governor, is trying to win his old job back by facing Youngkin in November. This is because Virginia term limits on governors do not allow them to serve two consecutive terms. However, after leaving office for a term, they can run again. 

Breitbart News has previously extensively reported on Woodruff and McAuliffe. The report revealed that Woodruff had given $250 to the Clinton Foundation’s “Clinton Haiti Relief Fund” in 2010. Additionally, the report also shows that McAuliffe, in 2004, was a board member for the Clinton Foundation, which is the same organization that Woodruff would later donate to before there was an effort to have her moderate the Virginia gubernatorial debate this year.

The report continued to show the “corruption” Woodruff had donated to:

Clinton-connected corruption in Haiti, however, largely overshadowed anything productive the Clinton Foundation may have intended in the poverty-stricken Caribbean island nation.

Former Haitian Senate president Bernard Sansaricq blistered the Clintons with criticism during the 2016 presidential campaign in comments bolstered by now former President Donald Trump’s campaign, saying they stole billions of dollars from starving and suffering people in Haiti.

The campaign aimed at the format of the Virginia Bar Association debate, saying that not having a discussion on jobs and the economy was an “insurmountable barrier in our negotiations.” 

PBS Newshour Executive Producer Sara Just said Youngkin’s move not participating in the debate “outrageous.” Just tweeted, “Judy’s donation to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund was in response to bipartisan call by Clinton & George W. Bush in 2010.” She added that it was “for relief for Haiti following a devastating earthquake. Seeing it thru any other lens is completely misleading.”

She continued, “And it should go without saying, Judy — over the course of her distinguished career — has never donated to a politician or any political party.”

McAuliffe also released a statement about Youngkin’s decision, saying, “It’s no surprise he does not have the courage to face me at this debate and answer questions just as every Republican and Democratic nominee for governor has done since 1985.”