With his once dominant lead in rapid decline against a political newcomer, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe—also the state’s current Democratic gubernatorial candidate—stormed out of a media interview on Tuesday after a local reporter began asking him tough questions.
Recent polls show McAuliffe in a dead-heat with Republican Glenn Youngkin, despite the once-red state having trended deep-blue since McAuliffe, a former Clinton adviser and Democratic National Committee chair, was first elected in 2013.
Both candidates drew 46% of support from Virginia voters, according to a Monmouth University survey.
Just last month, McAuliffe was leading Youngkin by 5 points.
WJLA-TV Nick Minock conducted two interviews with each of the state’s gubernatorial candidates this week. Both were slated to be 20 minutes long, but McAuliffe cut his off after 10 minutes, accusing Minock of not asking good questions.
Minock’s interview with McAuliffe began with Minock asking the candidate a question about why he declared parents shouldn’t be “telling schools what they should teach.”
“So are you saying parents shouldn’t have a voice in their kids’ education?” Minock asked.
“Sure, parents should have a voice. And parents do have a voice,” McAuliffe responded.
When Minock asked McAuliffe if he “misspoke” at the debate, he yelled, “No!”
A couple of questions later, an off-screen McAuliffe aide cut off the interview.
“All right, Nick. We are already over time,” the aide said.
McAuliffe agreed: “All right, we are over. That’s it. That’s it,” he said, chiding Minock over his questions.
“You should have asked better questions early on,” McAuliffe said. “You should have asked questions your viewers care about.”
