Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) released a campaign ad this week featuring a selectively edited clip of former President Donald Trump that perpetuates the “very fine people” hoax used repeatedly by Democrats attempting to paint Trump as a neo-Nazi sympathizer.
The ad links McAuliffe’s gubernatorial race opponent, Republican Glenn Youngkin, to the former president, a strategy McAuliffe has employed exhaustively throughout the duration of his campaign after Virginia voted ten points in favor of President Joe Biden in 2020.
The ad begins with visuals of the January 6 riot, and then switches to torch-bearing protesters marching in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017. The ad then cuts to a brief clip of Trump responding to the Charlottesville protests — which had included violent encounters and resulted in one death — that “you also had very fine people on both sides.” The ad then displays marchers with a confederate flag, Youngkin speaking about Trump, and McAuliffe condemning the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who were present at the protests.
