HOT SPRINGS, Va. (AP) – The two major party candidates in Virginia’s closely watched race for governor argued Saturday over the typical debate fare – guns, abortion, health care – as well as the best approach to dealing with President Donald Trump.
Ed Gillespie, a dyed-in-the-wool establishment Republican who has tried to keep his distance from the president, said he doesn’t always support Trump’s policies but is willing to work with the president on issues important to Virginia like defense spending.
Democrat Ralph Northam, the state’s lieutenant governor, said Trump is a “dangerous” man and Virginia needs a governor willing to stand up to him. Northam said Gillespie has been conspicuously silent in criticizing Trump’s policies on health care and immigration that Northam said hurt Virginians.
“You really have been missing in action,” Northam told Gillespie.
But Gillespie countered that Northam’s antagonistic approach to Trump would harm a state heavily dependent on federal spending.