The lesson from Virginia isn’t to throw Trump overboard, it’s to take his issues and translate them for local voters

Republican Glenn Youngkin’s upset victory in the Virginia gubernatorial race this week came as a welcome sign for many conservatives nationwide, including myself. But what does it mean for the future of the conservative movement?

Of course, it means that Youngkin’s defeat of one-time Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is a repudiation of President Joe Biden’s supposed “popularity.”

Never-Trumpers wasted no time making their point in the immediate aftermath.

“We can win 2024 without Trump,” Meghan McCain declared.

A headline on the Drudge Report blared, “Shocker shows Trump isn’t needed…” Joe Scarborough claimedthat Youngkin won in part because of Trump being banned from social media. Erick Erickson calmly respondedby saying that the Virginia race proves Republicans who had questions about the 2020 election should now “STFU.”

The mainstream media, also glad to be rid of Trump, joined in as well. The Atlantic opined that Youngkin “showed the possibility of a party that isn’t Trump’s any longer.”

“The GOP’s Trump-free campaign in Virginia worked,” a CNN contributor wrote. Slate said “Glenn Youngkin triumphed by winning over a large number of voters who don’t support the former president.”

 

Continue Reading Charlie Kirk’s Opinion Piece: Fox News