Verified accounts on Twitter took to the platform to erroneously blame Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin for the drivers stranded on I-95, even though Gov. Ralph Northam (D) has more than one week left in office.
Hundreds of drivers were stuck on the highway after the Northern Virginia area was hit with more than a foot of snow. As a result, drivers were left freezing in their cars for over 24 hours. U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) was among the drivers stuck on the highway.
Dan Gainor highlighted a since-deleted tweet from PressRun Media founder Eric Boehlert where he said, “the Youngkin era begins in Va” in response to news of the traffic jam.
Verified reporter Fred Grimm said the traffic jam was “collateral damage between Glenn Youngkin and the wrath of God.”
Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Dispatcher, mistakenly offered Youngkin solutions to the crisis, initially noting that Youngkin should be “flooding the zone to get this I-95 crap fixed.” Goldberg has since admitted his error after a flood of users corrected him.
Additionally, unverified liberal accounts continued the attack on Youngkin, with one user saying he “failed his first test” as Virginia governor.
Another Twitter user wrongly proclaimed the traffic jam “never happened under Dem Gov Northam—or any other Gov for that matter!”
While Twitter blue checks were mistakenly blaming Youngkin, the governor-elect met with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) to discuss how the two can work together on a “wide range of regional issues.”
These tweets blaming Youngkin were sent despite the fact that Northam tweeted out updates on the situation from the official Virginia Governor’s twitter account.
Glenn Youngkin’s first day as governor will be Saturday, January 15, after he is sworn into office along with Lieutenant Gov.-elect Winsome Sears and Attorney General-elect Jason Miyares.