在他的民主党对手呼吁他公开谴责一场共和党集会的参与者几个小时后，共和党提名的弗吉尼亚州州长格伦·扬金(Glenn Youngkin)发表了一份声明，称这一行为“怪异和错误”。该集会的参与者承诺效忠一面据说在1月6日国会大厦附近的集会上飘扬的美国国旗
“虽然我在昨晚的活动中没有扮演任何角色，但我今天从媒体上的许多人那里听说了这件事。向一面与1月6日有关的旗帜宣誓效忠是奇怪和错误的，”扬金说。“正如我之前多次说过的，1月6日发生的暴力事件令人作呕，也是错误的。”
周四上午，参加竞选的民主党前州长特里·麦考利夫(Terry McAuliffe)举行了一次新闻发布会，敦促杨金否认启动支持全州共和党候选人活动的承诺。
麦考利夫说:“他们真的在那里举了一面旗帜，他们宣誓效忠于一面用来摧毁美国国旗所象征的民主的旗帜。“我只是要求格伦·扬金发表一份声明，或者今天就走上镜头...说，宣誓效忠国旗是不合适的...试图摧毁民主。”
周三晚上的集会开始时直播在右翼平台“真实美国之声”上，主持人叫出了一名举着美国国旗的女子，主持人表示，这面国旗“是在1月6日与唐纳德·j·特朗普(Donald J. Trump)的和平集会上携带的。”
在1月6日的骚乱中或之后，有五人死亡。根据司法部提交的法律文件，对警察bodycam镜头的全面审查发现，约有1000起袭击试图保护大楼的执法人员的事件。
大约140名警察在国会大厦遭到袭击，包括大约80名美国国会大厦警察和大约60名大都会警察局的警察。近650人被捕，并被指控犯有与1月6日事件有关的联邦罪行，其中100多人已经认罪。
扬金周三没有在弗吉尼亚州的集会上发言或出席，但前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)呼吁与会者投票支持这位共和党提名人。
“我告诉你吧，格伦·扬金是一位伟大的绅士，真正的成功。...我非常了解特里·麦考利夫，特里是一个不擅长增税的州长——这就是他们所知道的，”特朗普在简短的讲话中说。“你有机会成为这个国家最成功的商人之一...他会整顿弗吉尼亚。他会降低税收，做所有我们希望州长做的事情。”
特朗普在竞选期间没有选出最受欢迎的候选人主要活动杨金在5月份获得共和党提名后表示支持。虽然他没有出席活动，但这标志着他第一次参加支持该州共和党候选人的活动，尽管是通过电话。
另一位竞争全州职位的共和党人，副州长提名人温索·西尔斯，计划在集会上发言事件咨询，但她最终没有。美国广播公司新闻已经联系了她的竞选团队和举行集会的约翰·弗雷德里克斯媒体网络，询问取消集会的事宜，但没有得到回应。
特朗普的前白宫顾问史蒂夫·班农周四被传唤到调查1月6日袭击的委员会作证，他也在集会结束时发表了讲话。班农拒绝了众议院特别委员会的传票，该委员会的主席和副主席上周表示，他们将“迅速考虑”蔑视国会关押班农。
弗吉尼亚州选民两次拒绝了特朗普，2020年的投票率几乎是2016年的两倍。麦考利夫将扬金与特朗普联系在一起，称他为“特朗普崇拜者”，并经常强调扬金的计划和声明选举诚信。"
但是距离11月2日的选举只有不到三周的时间了，这场竞争势均力敌。麦考利夫只有线索根据FiveThirtyEight的民调平均值，扬金下降了2.5个百分点。
特朗普继续错误地声称上一次大选是从他那里偷来的，这次大选的余波一直笼罩着杨金的竞选团队，因为他试图在不疏远热情的特朗普选民的情况下抵御麦考利夫的攻击，许多选民错误地认为乔·拜登总统没有合法赢得2020年大选。
但是两位候选人都在第一次辩论中公开承诺，如果他们输了，甚至是险胜，他们将“绝对”接受选举结果。
亲自提前投票从9月中旬开始，到10月30日结束。根据美国广播公司的数据，到目前为止已经投了大约345，000张选票弗吉尼亚公共访问项目。
Youngkin calls pledge to flag 'carried' at Jan. 6 rally 'weird and wrong'
Hours after his Democratic opponent called on him to publicly condemn attendees of a GOP rally who pledged allegiance to an American flag said to have been flown at the Jan. 6 rally near the Capitol prior to the insurrection, Republican nominee for Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin issued a statement calling the act "weird and wrong."
"While I had no role in last night’s event, I have heard about it from many people in the media today. It is weird and wrong to pledge allegiance to a flag connected to January 6," Youngkin said. "As I have said many times before, the violence that occurred on January 6 was sickening and wrong."
Thursday morning, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, the Democrat in the race, held a press call where he urged Youngkin to disavow the pledge that kicked off an event in support of the statewide GOP ticket.
"They really brought a flag up there and they did pledge of allegiance to a flag that was used to bring down the democracy that that American flag symbolizes," McAuliffe said. "I'm just asking Glenn Youngkin to issue a statement or go before the cameras today... and say, it was not appropriate to pledge allegiance to a flag... that tried to destroy the democracy."
At the start of the Wednesday night rally, which waslivestreamedon the right-wing platform Real America's Voice, the emcee called up a woman with an American flag, which the emcee said "was carried at the peaceful rally with Donald J. Trump on Jan. 6."
Five people died during or after the riot on Jan. 6. A comprehensive review of police officer bodycam footage found roughly 1,000 instances of assault against members of law enforcement who were trying to protect the building, according to legal filings by the Justice Department.
Approximately 140 police officers were assaulted at the Capitol, including about 80 U.S. Capitol Police and about 60 from the Metropolitan Police Department. And nearly 650 people have been arrested and charged with federal crimes in connection to the events of Jan. 6, with more than 100 having already pleaded guilty.
Youngkin did not speak at or attend the Virginia rally on Wednesday, but former President Donald Trump called in to urge attendees to vote for the Republican nominee.
"I'll tell you what, Glenn Youngkin is a great gentleman, truly successful. ... I know Terry McAuliffe very well, and Terry was a lousy governor with raising taxes -- that's all they knew how to do," Trump said in brief remarks. "You have a chance to get one of the most successful business people in the country ... he'll straighten out Virginia. He'll lower taxes, do all of the things that we want a governor to do."
Trump, who didn't pick a favorite candidate during theprimary campaign, endorsed Youngkin after he secured the Republican nomination in May. While he wasn't on the ground for the event, this marked the first time he attended an event, albeit via phone, to support the GOP ticket in the state.
Another Republican vying for statewide office, Winsome Sears, the nominee for lieutenant governor, was scheduled to speak at the rally, according to theevent advisory, but she ultimately did not. ABC News has reached out to her campaign and to the John Fredericks Media Network, which held the rally, to ask about the cancellation but has not heard back.
Steve Bannon, the former White House adviser to Trump who was subpoenaed to appear for a deposition with the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack Thursday, also spoke at the end of the rally.Bannon has rebuffedthe House select committee's subpoena, and the committee's chairman and vice chairwoman said last week they will"swiftly consider"holding Bannon in contempt of Congress.
Virginia voters rejected Trump twice, and by nearly double the margin in 2020 as in 2016. McAuliffe has tied Youngkin to Trump, branding him a "Trump wannabe" and frequently highlighting Youngkin's plans and statements about "election integrity."
But with less than three weeks until the Nov. 2 election, the race is neck and neck. McAuliffeonly leadsYoungkin by 2.5 percentage points, according to FiveThirtyEight's polling average.
The fallout over the last general election, which Trump continues to falsely claim was stolen from him, has been a cloud over Youngkin's campaign as he attempts to fend off McAuliffe's attacks without alienating ardent Trump voters, many of whom wrongly believe President Joe Biden did not legitimately win the 2020 election.
But both candidates went on the record during the first debate pledging to "absolutely" accept the results of the election if they lose, even narrowly.
In-person early voting has been underway since mid-September and ends Oct. 30. About 345,000 ballots have been cast so far, according to theVirginia Public Access Project.
