MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace has only one fact check on PolitiFact – a “Pants on Fire” for suggesting Trump is “talking about exterminating Latinos.” But she certainly mangled the facts on Thursday’s Deadline: White House, claiming Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin is an “insurrectionist” who “wouldn’t say” whether he would have voted to certify the 2020 election. Fact check: False.
The subject was a Thursday rally in Virginia featuring Donald Trump where Youngkin was not present, where they touted saying the Pledge of Allegiance to a flag they said came from Trump’s speech on January 6 (before the riot). Youngkin, however, issued a statement distancing themselves from violence and the disturbance. Nicolle couldn’t handle this:
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WALLACE [Plouffe]He just stated that he is trying to distance from the insurrection. He hasn’t — he has said — I believe Axios reported that Youngkin wouldn’t say whether they would have voted to certify the election on January 6 if you’re a member of Congress. This is part of slow-motion rebellion. He is an insurrectionist. He is able to distance himself completely from the infuriating display of a flag over an area that was the final resting place for police officers and other personnel. However, he was of the rebellious nature.
She also referred to Axios. However, this appears to be the footnote. It was published on September 26,
Youngkin thinks that Biden won the 2020 election legally. But while speaking with Axios, he wouldn’t say whether he would have voted to certify the election on Jan. 6 if he were a member of Congress. He did say there’s “no room for violence in America.”
Unfortunately, Wallace was not the only one who saw Axios on September 27th with this headline: “Youngkin clarifies he would have certified 2020 election.”
The Youngkin campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request from Axios about whether he wanted to clarify his answer, but when asked Monday whether he would have voted to certify, he told WTKR-TV, “Yeah, absolutely.”
John Heilemann dug in to mangle it once more:
HEILEMANN : I’ll wager you every dollar in mine, Nicolle. Youngkin’s attitude is that as soon as he learned that Trump and Bannon were attending this rally, that’s when his cannon pin drew a line. Then they said “OK, we won’t go.” This is how distancing should be. While we won’t say any negative things about Trump, it’s not our intention to withdraw the endorsement. While we don’t claim that Joe Biden is the legitimate President of the United States, they could have voted for certification. However, I am not planning to attend that rally. That was enough, they said.
The flag appeared, and then people pledged allegiance. It was the flag of insurrectionists. A flag that looked exactly like those police officers dealt with. It was the end of all things.
PolitiFact does not throw false flags at MSNBC pundits, even though they are clearly misrepresenting what Youngkin stated on record.
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