Lincoln Project spent nearly $300k against Glenn Youngkin, admit to staging Tiki Torch protesters

An anti-Trump political action committee, the Lincoln Project, has spent nearly $300,000 on a campaign designed to negatively portray the Republican Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin. Glenn’s Democratic opponent is Terry McAuliffe.

According to the Virginia Public Access Project records, $17,100 was spent on pro-McAuliffe efforts, while slightly more than $280,000 on anti-Youngkin efforts.

The Virginia Public Access Project reported that anti-Youngkin spending included digital ads, TV ad buys, and  “media production.”

Formed as a counter to ex-President Donald Trump, The Lincoln Project was formed in 2019 by former Republicans. The group made it to the headlines on Friday when they admitted to staging a political stunt at a Youngkin rally. The intention was to portray white supremacists as GOP supporters.

In a press release, the Lincoln Project explained that the demonstration was intended to remind Virginians about the incident in Charlottesville four years ago. The group emphasized that Youngkin failed to condemn it, and the Republican Party embraced the values.

Several news outlets cited the staged protest as a legitimate example of white supremacists supporting Youngkin.

An NBC 29 reporter tweeted a photo of five people dressed in khaki pants and white shirts, holding tiki torches while standing in front of Youngkin’s campaign vehicle on Friday morning. The outfits worn by the group resembled those worn by attendees of the 2018 rally in Charlottesville called “United the Right”, where one person got killed.

“Unite the Right” was quickly called out to be imposters by the Youngkin campaign. 

They accused their Democratic opponent Terry McAuliffe of being behind the hoax, but McAuliffe’s campaign claimed innocence. However, The Lincoln Project took credit for the stunt.

The McAuliffe campaign reflected on the incident, describing it as disgusting, condemning it strongly. They concluded by stating that those involved should apologize right away.

deleted, but the List comes for all, @glennkirschner2.

✍🏼✍🏼✍🏼 pic.twitter.com/Oq9kmg7YAd

— Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) October 29, 2021

The person taking credit for collaborating with Lincoln Project on the tiki torch thing acted like she was surprised about it earlier in the day pic.twitter.com/ppXwTHyTnL

— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) October 29, 2021