Democratic Party of Virginia Chairwoman Susan Swecker and lieutenant governor nominee Del. Hala Ayala held a press conference on Thursday alongside labor groups to discuss the recent reports about the Republican nominee for governor Glenn Youngkin and his time with The Carlyle Group.
Youngkin is still dealing with these attacks from Democrats after a recent report from the Associated Press showed that while he was involved with The Carlyle Group, the investment firm would purchase private businesses and then sometimes outsource the jobs or lay off employees to help investors increase their profit.
Youngkin eventually rose to the title of co-CEO at The Carlyle Group before resigning ahead of this gubernatorial run.
“There’s no two-ways about it: Glenn Youngkin’s so-called leadership led to American jobs being shipped overseas,” said Virginia AFL-CIO President Doris Crouse-Mays at a press conference this week. “Today I want to be unequivocally clear: anyone who has spent their entire career gutting American jobs is the wrong choice to lead our commonwealth.”
Youngkin amassed a large personal wealth in his time with The Carlyle Group and is issuing that wealth to invest in this race. He has loaned his campaign $12 million so far.
Youngkin’s campaign touted his work to help The Carlyle Group become wildly successful when they responded to the Associated Press.
“As a young man, Glenn joined a small company and over the next 25 years worked his way up to the top of the company, helping to grow it into a hugely successful enterprise that turned good businesses into great businesses, created tens of thousands of jobs, and funded the retirement pensions of police officers, firefighters, and teachers,” Youngkin spokesman Macaulay Porter said to the Associated Press. “Under Glenn’s leadership, The Carlyle Group employed nearly 2,000 people and managed assets totaling nearly four times the size of Virginia’s yearly budget.”
None of the actions reported about The Carlyle Group while Youngkin was with the firm are illegal. The business practices just bring into question Youngkin’s motto of creating more jobs and better businesses for Virginians.
“It is more important than ever that we fight to elect Terry McAuliffe and defeat Glenn Youngkin’s extreme hardline agenda,” said Chairwoman Swecker.
Youngkin’s campaign also pushed back on the narrative Thursday by pointing out that McAuliffe has previously invested with The Carlyle Group. They even paid to have a billboard truck ask how much McAuliffe invested with the firm.
Hey @JakeRubenstein @Renzo_Olivari @christinafreund — why is your guy so afraid of answering this question?
— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) July 9, 2021
How many millions of dollars did Terry McAuliffe invest in Carlyle? pic.twitter.com/TXbVu3QKXa
Youngkin is facing Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe, and Independent candidate Princess Blanding in the general election that takes place Nov. 2. Watch the video from the Democratic press conference below.
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