2017 Republican nominee Ed Gillespie joined Fox News’ ‘Fox & Friends this morning to discuss the desperate smear campaign Lieutenant Governor Northam and his allies are waging against him and his supporters. A video and transcript of the full interview are provided below.
Watch HERE.
TRANSCRIPT
STEVE DOOCY: Ed Gillespie, who is running for governor joins us right now live from Alexandria. Ed, when you saw that commercial that came out yesterday from the Latino Victory Fund, what did you think?
ED GILLESPIE: I thought it was a sad day for Virginia. And this attack is not just an attack on my supporters, who are good, decent, hardworking Virginians who love their neighbors, it is an attack on all Virginians, Steve. And the fact is that whether you disagree with people or not, in Virginia we respect civil discourse. And this is a new low in politics here. It is a sad day. I was glad when a couple of Democratic members of our House of Delegates yesterday condemned the ad, but outrageously, my opponent has embraced it. And it reveals a disdain, not just for my supporters, but for all Virginians frankly who want to have a discussion about issues and policies in this election that I have been focused on. And all they want to do is smear people and it’s the wrong thing to do and I have faith in my fellow Virginians that they see that very clearly.
DOOCY: Well Ed, what does it say to you about the opposition that they would drop that ad a week before the election?
ED GILLESPIE: One, it’s clear they understand this race is slipping away from them and they are losing it because they don’t have any policies. And I have been putting forward policies for months now, 20 specific, detailed policy proposals to get Virginia growing again. And two, they don’t want to debate the issues. Instead of debating the issues they just demonize, they vilify, they marginalize anyone who disagrees with them. It’s clear that my opponent, Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam, doesn’t just disagree with millions of Virginians who don’t share his liberal policy agenda, he disdains us. And he disdains the people who want to have a civil debate about the policies. And that’s what I have put forward. Steve, I have focused on policies throughout this campaign and we do have policy differences. And the notion that if you don’t think we should allow for sanctuary cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia because that won’t make us safer from MS-13 – if someone is here illegally and they commit a crime I believe we need to cooperate with federal law enforcement and they should be subject to deportation – if you disagree with that, fine, but that’s have a debate whether or not we think that – and by the way, my opponent does, he cast a deciding vote against a ban on sanctuary cities. Let’s debate the issue. But to attack people, to dismiss them, I don’t think he has confidence in debating his position on that. Most Virginians don’t agree with him on that.
STEVE DOOCY: Ed, where you’re sitting right now in Alexandria, that’s the same city that we were talking about earlier today. At Christ Church, which is a church that George Washington himself attended, there is a plaque inside the vestibule that commemorates the fact that he was there, but they’re taking it down, because apparently it makes some people feel uncomfortable. What do you make of this? Because I know statues in Virginia are another big topic this election cycle.
ED GILLESPIE: Well obviously, I was disappointed by that removing of the plaque of George Washington at the church where he worshipped because people find it offensive, and that is another debate in this campaign. My opponent is in favor of removing all historical Civil War monuments in the Commonwealth of Virginia. I think they should stay up. We should add historical context to them. And the fact is, Virginia was front and center – We’ve of course been at the forefront of American history from the very founding here in Virginia and Virginians. Now, it doesn’t mean we’ve always been on the right side. In the Civil War, we were on the wrong side of history, but these statues around the Commonwealth that commemorate those who served in the Civil War – I believe we should educate about them and teach about them, and he wants to take them all down, and he made that an issue when he called for taking down and removing all the statues. When I disagree with that position, which by the way, two-thirds of Virginians agree with me, you get attacked.
STEVE DOOCY: Well, we did invite your opponent on. So far, he has declined our invitation. We’ll find out what happens though. The election is a week from today. Ed, thank you very much for joining us.
ED GILLESPIE: Thanks for having me on, Steve.
# # #