VIRGINIA NEWS – Lt. Governor nominee accuses Governor Youngkin of extortion over Facebook post

Laila Kirkpatrick, Staff Writer

John Reid accused Governor Glenn Younkin and his team of extorting him, a the Virginia governor pushes for Reid to step down as the Republican nominee for the lieutenant governor’s race. The accusations come as Reid continues to defend himself against allegations that surfaced last week claiming a social media account with the same name that Reid uses shared pornographic content.

These allegations have prompted Youngkin to call for Reid to exit Virginia’s gubernatorial race. Reid has consistently denied this, saying that it was not his social media account and publicly denying performing or sharing inappropriate content online. 

In a video posted on social media, Reid said that he had hoped the Republican ticket would be unified and said that he could put the happenings of last week behind him. However, his campaign representatives have been told that the attacks would stop if he dropped out of the race against Youngkin. Reid is the first openly gay candidate from either party for statewide office and previously said that his sexual orientation is the reason he is being targeted.