Gov. Glenn Youngkin called the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, John Reid, and asked him to step down Friday.
A spokesperson for Youngkin’s political PAC, Spirit of Virginia, that the governor asked Reid to step down Friday. Reid confirmed to Virginia that the governor called him.
A Tumblr account was discovered during a vulnerability assessment commissioned by Republican groups after Reid became the nominee. The account, which used the same handle Reid employs on other platforms, featured explicit photographs. The photographs were reposts, and not pictures of Reid himself.
“The Governor was made aware late Thursday of the disturbing online content,” a spokesperson for Spirit of Virginia said. “Friday morning, in a call with Mr. Reid, the Governor asked him to step down as the Lt. Governor nominee.”
Reid, the first openly gay man on a statewide ticket, denies that the account was his.
The Tumblr account was deleted by Friday when the Richmonder first broke the news, but Virginia Scope has viewed the content that was posted on the account.
“The Governor did call me today and said there were salacious pictures on the internet reposted by an account that uses my Instagram handle,” Reid said Friday in a statement. “I have now seen the supposed ‘evidence’ and it’s not my account, even though they’ve used a similar username to what I have on Instagram.”
“JRdeux” is the username for the Tumblr. It is also the username for Reid’s personal Instagram account.
“Jrdeux” is also a userhandle on TikTok. The account has no posts, but Reid’s partner is one of the followers listed on the account. The “JRdeux” TikTok account follows 341 accounts.
Reid, who posted recently about someone using photos of him and his boyfriend inappropriately, says this is the second attack against him in this manner.
“As long as I have been in the public space, I have been a target for malicious and salacious lies,” Reid said. “This is the second overt attempt to try to force me from the race. I’ll have more to say later today.”
Reid was recently named the nominee after his primary opponent, Fairfax Supervisor Pat Herrity, dropped out of the race due to health issues.
This is a developing situation.
Stay tuned for updates.