Youngkin says tweet criticizing teen was ‘unauthorized’

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) on Monday said a tweet criticizing a teenager that was published from his campaign account on Sunday was “unauthorized.”

“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,” Youngkin wrote on Twitter. “We must continue to work to bring Virginians together. There is so much more that unites us than divides us.”

The post in question was in response to a tweet published by 17-year-old Ethan Lynne, who wrote about a report from VPM, Richmond’s public radio station, that said the executive mansion’s director of historic interpretation and education had resigned after discovering that her office had been emptied and that her classroom had been converted into a family room.

The Twitter account associated with the Youngkin campaign later responded in a tweet with a photo of Lynne posing with former Gov. Ralph Northam (D-Va.). The since-deleted tweet, according to a screenshot posted on Twitter by a VPM reporter, also featured a photo of Northam’s medical school yearbook, which depicts him posing in blackface. The second photo had initially resurfaced in 2019.

Lynne wrote on Twitter on Monday that Youngkin, despite acknowledging the situation that had unfolded, “did not apologize and did not condemn what happened over the weekend.”

The 17-year-old said he is hoping Youngkin apologizes.

“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,” Lynne wrote.

VPM reported that according to Youngkin spokesperson Macaulay Porter, first lady Suzanne Youngkin and her staff “are in the decision-making process regarding the Executive Mansion.”

Porter later clarified to the radio station that the space was not being utilized as a family room.

Youngkin was sworn in as governor of Virginia last month, becoming the first Republican to lead the commonwealth in more than a decade.

He succeeded Northam, who came under fire in 2019 when the photo from his page in his medical yearbook resurfaced showing a man in blackface and another dressed in KKK robes.