President Donald Trump jumped into the Virginia governor’s race with an attack on the Democratic candidate by explicitly linking him to violent gangs.
‘Ralph Northam, who is running for Governor of Virginia, is fighting for the violent MS-13 killer gangs & sanctuary cities,’ Trump tweeted Thursday night. ‘Vote Ed Gillespie!’
Trump’s attack followed a new poll showing Northam with a wide lead in the race, and links him to a gang he has stressed in his call for tighter immigration, branding members as ‘animals’ and ‘thugs.’
Gillespie is the former lobbyist and Republican National Committee chair who came close to defeating Virginia Sen. Mark Warner.
Donald Trump jumped into the Virginia governor’s race with an attack on the Democratic candidate Ralph Northam by explicitly linking him to violent gangs.
Trump attacked Democrat Ralph Northam, the state’s lieutenant governor, on immigration issues in a tweet late Thursday, accusing Northam of ‘fighting’ on behalf of violent MS-13 gang members. Trump urged Virginians to vote for Republican Ed Gillespie.
There have been no indications that Northam actually supports the violent gang, which is headquartered in El Salvador and known for horrific attacks on rival gang members and informers, as well as trafficking and other crimes.
Gillespie – a consummate Washington insider – has sought to keep Trump at arm’s length throughout the campaign while also trying to rally Trump supporters with hard-edged attacks on Northam over immigration. Gillespie was a former operative on Capitol Hill before he began his rise.
Trump said the Democrat was ‘fighting for’ the violent MS-13
THE GANG’S ALL HERE: Virginia’s Lt. Governor Ralph Northam talks to host Dean Obeidallah about his gubernatorial campaign during a SiriusXM Town Hall at SiriusXM Studio on August 27, 2017
YOU TALKIN TO ME? Gubernatorial debate between Republican candidate Ed Gillespie, left, and Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, Democrat, on September, 19, 2017 in McLea
Northam responded on Twitter he’s been expecting Trump’s attack and asked supporters for donations.
Virginia is just one of two states electing governors this year, a swing state contest viewed as a possible referendum on Trump’s first year in office.
MS-13 has become a target of Trump in seeking support for a broader immigration crackdown.
Trump has repeatedly gone after the gang, terming members ‘animals.’
Together we’re going to restore safety to our streets and peace to our communities and we’re going to destroy the vile, criminal cartel MS-13 and many other gangs,’ he said on Long Island in July.
‘They kidnap. They extort. They rape and they rob,’ Trump said. ‘They stomp on their victims. They beat them with clubs, they slash them with machetes, and they stab them with knives. They have transformed peaceful parks and beautiful quiet neighborhoods into bloodstained killing fields. They’re animals.’
Trump later took heat for urging law enforcement officers: ‘Please don’t be so nice,’ when arresting suspects, and not to use their hands to protect suspected gang members’ heads.
Gillespie – a consummate Washington insider – has sought to keep Trump at arm’s length throughout the campaign
Gillespie has tried to make more subtle links between his rival and gangs. An ad reported on by the Richmond Times-Dispatch notes that a Gillespie ad shows photos of tattooed Hispanic looking men who appear to be gang members. An ad shows the gang’s motto of ‘Kill. Rape. Control.’
Northam ‘supported restoring rights to illegal immigrants who committed crimes,’ according to a Gillespie ad.
Virginia is the only southern state that didn’t back Trump, Fox News noted.
A Washington Post-Schar School poll released Thursday gives Northam a 13-point lead, though it could be an outlier.