Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe launched a new digital ad Tuesday targeting his opponent’s stance on COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin has strongly encouraged people to receive the vaccine but he has not supported vaccine mandates — this ad from McAuliffe shows various comments from Youngkin when discussing the vaccine and his opposition to mandates.
Youngkin has filmed a PSA video on the vaccine encouraging people to receive it and is airing it as an ad in the Northern Virginia media market. He invited McAuliffe to film a video with him last week urging people to get the shot, but McAuliffe responded by calling on Youngkin to support vaccine requirements. A video was not filmed.
McAuliffe has been hammering Youngkin on this for months and appears to be continuing that trend during the final weeks of the campaign. The new ad shows comments from Youngkin on a radio show in August when he said “I would not require a vaccine in order to continue to work for Virginia.” Footage of McAuliffe then follows up by saying “I think that’s life-threatening, and I think that’s disqualifying as governor.”
A recent poll from Fox News shows that only 29% of people believe the vaccine is not safe or effective. The poll also showed that the majority of Americans support vaccine requirements for teachers, government employees, and businesses with more than 100 employees.
View the new ad from McAuliffe below.
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