Appearing Monday afternoon on MSNBC, longtime University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato reminded viewers of the depths in which his brain has been broken as he relayed that a victory for Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin over former Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) would be thanks to his use of lies and white power to galvanize a “white backlash” against Democrats under the guise of education.
Sabato was prodded by fill-in host Chris Jansing, who followed up on a report in Virginia Beach from NBC reporter Heidi Przybyla by falsely claiming (as Przybyla did) that “critical race theory, as we know, isn't taught in Virginia schools.”
Asked “how did education become the number one issue,” a despondent Sabato chose not to mention how his Miller Center of Public Affairs Crystal Ball team had just moved the race to lean Republican and/or how the closeness of the race had nothing to do with skin color.
Instead, he huffed that it matters only “[b]ecause one of the candidates decided it was his ticket to the governor's mansion, and he may well be right” and the true issue hasn’t been “critical” or “theory” (as in critical race theory), but “race.”
Sabato then went full Daily Kos comments section, offering hate-filled reasoning for Youngkin’s rise in the polls being due to Virginians being not only too stupid to know what’s true or not, but possessing a hatred of non-white people:
There’s a lot of — we can call it, white backlash, white resistance, whatever you want to call it. It has to do with race. And so, we live in a post factual-era anyway, Chris. This is a post-factual era. It doesn't matter that it isn't taught in Virginia schools. It's this generalized attitude that whites are being put-upon and we've got to do something about it, “we” being white voters.
Jansing refused to push back and closed out the segment by asking Sabato how viewers should digest the returns and how to know whether McAuliffe or Youngkin could be headed to victory.
Further yet, Sabato’s parroting of the McAuliffe camp squared because of the fact that Sabato openly campaigned for him in August, welcoming him to UVA, and touted what The Cavalier Daily called “several achievements” as governor.
Back on MSNBC, Sabato’s galaxy brain take continued to bear spoiled fruit as far-left Washington Post columnist and MSNBC political analyst Jonathan Capehart hailed the UVA professor’s excuse for if Youngkin won.
Oh, and Capehart dragged the race lense in with more false claims about Youngkin, stating that, by “throwing Beloved onto the embers of white resentment, he's been able to close the gap.”
Nonetheless, Capehart kept the proverbial tinfoil hat attached as he concluded by claiming without evidence that Youngkin would turn Virginia into Georgia and Texas (even though, in the latter’s case, he has said he opposes that state’s abortion law):
[I]f Terry McAuliffe does not win, the — the damage isn't just to black voters and black women, it's to Virginia because what could come — what could come with a Glenn Youngkin administration, you know, you need only look to Texas and Georgia to see what the template might be for Virginia.
This characterization of Republican voters as tools of white power was made possible thanks to the endorsement of advertisers such as Fidelity, Humana, Liberty Mutual, and MRHFM: Mesothelioma Law Firm. Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant MSNBC transcript from November 1, click “expand.”
MSNBC’s Katy Tur Reports
November 1, 2021
2:41 p.m. EasternCHRIS JANSING: So, to many Democrats' disappointment, recent polling shows abortion is not high on the list of key issues for Virginia. You see it there. Less than ten percent. Instead, education has jumped nine points in a month with Republicans hammering on critical race theory. [INTRODUCES PANEL] So, Heidi, I know you’ve talked to a lot of voters. What have they told you about what's become the key issue in this race, education?
HEIDI PRZYBYLA: Yeah. Chris, if you're talking about Youngkin voters, it is literally the first thing they bring up. And traversing this main strip here in Virginia Beach, which is a very swingy area, you can't help but feel the passions that a lot of these Republican voters have about this issue and the notion that critical race theory is being taught in Virginia classrooms. A lot of these voters, Chris, weren't able to exactly articulate what that means, other than they just feel that their kids or grandkids are being shamed for being white and it was just striking how many of them brought it up, Chris. I want you to listen to just one of the many conversations that we had in a nearby diner. Take a listen.
VIRGINIA VOTER: I like what Youngkin is standing for. You know, parents do have a big say in education. This critical race theory is something to me that is ridiculous.
[SCREEN WIPE]
PRZYBYLA: Are you just taking it on faith that that actually is happening or, I mean —
VIRGINIA VOTER: Well, yes.
PRZYBYLA: — have you seen evidence?
VIRGINIA VOTER: No, I'm taking it on faith, really. You know, and I mean, of course our children already have their own children, so I'm concerned about our grandchildren, you know, what they're going to be taught in school. It seems like reading, writing, and arithmetic isn't the main objective.
PRZYBYLA: So, Chris, despite the evidence, you couldn't help but feel this is the strongest headwind at this point that McAuliffe is facing in this race. The Democrats that we talked to just seemed very frustrated that this is all a made-up dog whistle. But I've got to say, I covered the 2017 gubernatorial, and the feeling is very different. Whereas back then we had all these suburban women who literally marched from the Mall in their pink hats to the ballot box to cast a referendum vote on President Trump. Today, they're feeling exhausted. Today, I talked to a volunteer door knocker for Terry McAuliffe who says she's very concerned, for instance, about young African-American voters. She said she literally clasped her hands and begged an African-American young voter this morning to get out to the polls. That's very different from what McAuliffe won in 2013-2014 when —
JANSING: Yeah.
PRZYBYLA: — the Black vote was very high and helped push him over the top.
JANSING: Yeah. And I have to say, I was at a Youngkin rally earlier today, Larry, and every single person I asked, why are you supporting Glenn Youngkin, it was education, education, critical race theory. I mean, this is — first of all, critical race theory, as we know, isn't taught in Virginia schools, it has one of the best school systems countrywide. So, how did education become the number one issue, Larry?
LARRY SABATO: Because one of the candidates decided it was his ticket to the governor's mansion, and he may well be right. The operative word is not critical and it’s not theory. It's race. What a shock, huh? Race. That is what matters and that’s why it sticks. There’s a lot of — we can call it, white backlash, white resistance, whatever you want to call it. It has to do with race. And so, we live in a post factual-era anyway, Chris. This is a post-factual era. It doesn't matter that it isn't taught in Virginia schools. It's this generalized attitude that whites are being put-upon and we've got to do something about it, “we” being white voters.
(....)
2:51 p.m. Eastern
JANSING: So, Jonathan, in your recent column in The Post, you wrote: “Not only did African-Americans vote at the level they did in President Obama's 2012 re-election, Black women gave him 91 percent of their votes. He lost White women by 16...points.” Now, you know, Mark says that they're coming out, but, I mean, they brought Obama here, Kamala Harris, Stacey Abrams, Jim Clyburn was practically here the whole weekend. Is that going to turn the tide? Are you as optimistic as my friend Mark?
JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, I think Terry McAuliffe and — and Mark are hoping that this turns the tide. Look, these stories about the lack of enthusiasm among Democratic voters is, you know, it’s like every election. We were having the same discussion around the time of the California recall. It might be based in — in truth, but it's very important in this race because if African-American voters do not come out, Terry McAuliffe could lose. You know, Chris, one of the big data points we've all been talking about is that how out of ten of the last 11 Virginia gubernatorial races, the person who wins is from the opposite party of the person who won the —
JANSING: Yeah.
CAPEHART: — who won White House the year before. The one exception was Terry Mcauliffe in 2013. And it was because of Black voters. And so, if we're going to use history as a guide, you know, the McAuliffe campaign — I'm sure Terry McAuliffe is hoping he can get a repeat, because he won by three percentage points in 2013. But the fact that Glenn Youngkin is using — and I love what Larry Sabato said — let’s not focus — we're focusing on the wrong word, it's not critical race theory, we have to focus on race. And in this case, Glenn Youngkin, by throwing Beloved onto the embers of white resentment, he's been able to close the gap. The question is, as you well know, as Mark well knows, on Election Day, will enough Democratic voters come out to push Terry McAuliffe over the — over the top?
JANSING: Yeah, I mean, the trends certainly have been in his favor. Again, I was just saying that I had been, this morning, to a Glenn Youngkin rally, and I talked to a lot of voters. Every single one brought up education, many of them said specifically race theory. There’s no doubt that that has energized [the] Republican base, right?
MARK BERGMAN: Absolutely.
JANSING: But is it also energizing people on the left? Are you seeing an indication of that?
BERGMAN: Oh, I think — you’re seeing that there’s — the left energized but there’s also something going on in Virginia where the left and Democratic voters, they have muscle memory about voting every year. They may not have enthusiasm, but they know they have to go to the polls every year, cause in Virginia. we have an election every year.
(....)
2:55 p.m. Eastern
JANSING: You know, I’ve said this many times. One of my favorite interviews ever in politics, Jonathan, was with a group of women from Alabama and Mississippi who were following in the footsteps of Stacey Abrams. They said, if it takes ten years for us to turn our states Democratic, we're willing to do it. And I said to one of them — I said, why does it always seem to be Black women who have to do stuff? And her answer was, you're welcome. So, she was energized but she also talked about the exhaustion of always having to be the people who pulled it out. Speak to that for us.
CAPEHART: Well, right, I mean, the headline on my piece is "Black people save the republic by saving Virginia again.” It's always African-American voters who — who get out to the polls and have saved Democratic candidates in — you know, Alabama. The Senate candidate won there. In Georgia, there are two Democrats holding U.S. Senate seats because of Black voters. Joe Biden is in the White House because of Black voters, and Black women in particular. When their families are at stake, their livelihoods, their communities are at stake, Black voters and Black women especially have always gone out to vote. And if Terry McAuliffe does not win, the — the damage isn't just to Black voters and Black women, it's to Virginia because what could come — what could come with a Glenn Youngkin administration, you know, you need only look to Texas and Georgia —
JANSING: Mmmm.
CAPEHART: — to see what the template might be for Virginia.
