Former President Donald Trump and Gov. Glenn Youngkin held a tele-rally Sunday evening to discuss the upcoming presidential election and encourage supporters to take advantage of early voting, which began on Friday in Virginia, despite their past opposition to it.
Trump, in a reversal of his previous statements, encouraged Republicans to vote by mail, early in person, or on election day, saying, “We have to get it done.”
Youngkin expressed optimism that Virginia, where Joe Biden won by 10 points in 2020, could vote for a Republican for president for the first time since 2004.
“I just want to send a message very clearly and very loudly that we are going to put strength back in the White House,” Youngkin said during the call.
Youngkin said the key for Republicans to win the commonwealth is not to lose Northern Virginia badly, tie in the Richmond and Hampton Roads areas, and run up the score in the red parts of the commonwealth.
Trump talked briefly about Virginia and some of the congressional races happening here.
He praised Republican Senate nominee Hung Cao, saying his name is “very unusual and beautiful.”
“He’s got some great record in the past, and we need him for this election,” Trump continued.
Trump’s main message throughout the call was getting Republicans to the polls.
He told listeners about Virginia’s same-day voter registration, which is legislation that was passed by Virginia Democrats in 2020 and opposed by Republicans.
“If you’re not registered to vote, you can go register in person. It’s very important,” Trump said. “Register in person and vote the same day so you can vote, register and vote the same day. Just bring your government-issued ID to register.”
“I think we’re going to do numbers that nobody’s ever seen before,” he said.
Republicans across Virginia have been embracing early voting this election cycle while also expressing their displeasure with the process.
Virginia’s 11th Congressional District Republican Committee launched an experiment to register more Republicans for the permanent absentee ballot list this year. The committee’s stated goal is to help Republicans win more elections so they can change Virginia’s early voting laws to limit early voting.
State Sen. Glen Sturtevant, R-Chesterfield, said Sunday that early voting can prevent issues for voters on election day. Then, in the same social media post, he said that early voting should be cut back.
“Every year, stuff happens on Election Day,” he wrote in a social media post. “Machines go down, not enough ballots get printed, car trouble, mama gets sick, etc.”
In the same post, he said he wants to cut down on the amount of early voting.
“If you’re like me and you don’t like the 45 days of early voting we have in Virginia and you want to go back to having Election Day again, VOTE EARLY THIS YEAR,” he wrote. “It’s counter-intuitive, I know.”
Trump seems to have embraced early voting right now, but in July he railed against it at an event in Florida.
“They have early voting, late voting, everything is so ridiculous,” Trump said onstage in Palm Beach, Fla., in July. “We should have one-day voting, paper ballots, voter ID and certification of citizenship. And that’s what we’re striving for.”
Democrats implied Trump is not working hard to win Virginia in a statement after the tele-rally.
“While Trump is literally phoning it in here in Virginia, Team Harris-Walz and Virginia Democrats are turning unmatched enthusiasm into action, highlighting the stark contrast between Vice President Harris’ new way forward and Trump’s extreme Project 2025 agenda that would give him unchecked control over our daily lives, ban abortion nationwide, and raise taxes on families by nearly $4,000 a year,” said Susan Swecker, chairwoman for the Democratic Party of Virginia.
Even as polls show Vice President Kamala Harris with a lead in the commonwealth and history says it will be hard for him to win here, Trump says he is going to keep checking on Virginia to make sure Republicans are voting.
“I’m sort of checking on you. I’m checking on Virginia,” he said as he wrapped up his comments on the call. “I want to make sure everyone gets out and votes.”