Youngkin was asked if he will serve his full term
His administration appeared to slightly walk back his answer afterwards.
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Youngkin talks about serving his full term as governor during the CNBC Delivering Alpha conference
Governor Glenn Youngkin sat down with CNBC for the CNBC Delivering Alpha conference on Wednesday to discuss several topics related to his administration and his plans for the future. Youngkin appeared to commit to serving his full four year term and he also addressed the walk outs from students earlier this week in response to his transgender policy guidance.
On student walk outs to protest his transgender policy guidance:
Youngkin: “It’s a really important moment for us. As long as people are not violent, as long as they’re not destructing things, I actually think that that’s part of America, is to be able to exercise your First Amendment rights. I want to step back, however, and explain a bit about the context of this. And the context of this is that we had existing policy frameworks that specifically did not include parents in these decisions that are extremely important in children’s lives, and, in fact, enabled schools to say that parents would specifically not be informed by decisions that children are making. And voters spoke loudly in Virginia last year that parents matter, and I believe that parents should be fundamentally engaged in this. And, in fact, Virginia law states that parents have a fundamental right to be engaged in the education, the upbringing and the care of their child. So in this case what we have done with draft policies is reestablish parents’ fundamental role in making this decision with their child, by the way, not at the exclusion of a trusted teacher or a trusted counselor, but at the end of the day, it’s a parent and a child. It’s about families. You know, I think it’s really clear that children don’t belong to the state; they belong to families. And children have a right to, in fact, have parents engaged in these most important decisions, and, oh, by the way, parents have a right to be engaged in their children’s lives. The key for these policies is that if parents make a decision that, in fact, they would like for their child to have accommodations, then they will have them. So I’ve asked people who have spoken out quickly to please read the policies. I’m constantly reminded that people don’t read anything anymore. They read headlines, not actually the body of the document. In this case, I think that what people will find is that these policies are very much drafted with a fundamental belief in the necessity to protect all children, to protect their dignity, their confidentiality and their safety. The word “bullying” is used 36 times in the document to reassure that we are doubling down on the fact there can be no harassment and no discrimination and that parents must be at the center of these decisions that are made as a family. I think this is going to be an important moment for folks to recognize that we can have an “and” moment. This isn’t an ‘or’ moment, this is an “and” moment, where we can bring families into an important decision that can be made that is in the child’s best interest.”
On what Youngkin would say to companies who do not want to be located in Virginia with transgender policies like his
Youngkin: “Companies make decisions just like families do, and that is part of, I think, leading a company, is deciding what is in that company’s best interest, and, oh, by the way, reflecting the desires and wants of shareholders and customers and a board and a management team, and, oh, by the way, employees. I do believe that what companies have been saying very loudly over the course of the last many years is that when they assess the totality of where they want to be, there’s been a very clear migration, and that migration has been to Virginia. That migration’s been to Texas, it’s been to Florida, it’s been to Georgia. This is where companies are going.”
Moderator follow up: If folks looked in Virginia and if Boeing and Raytheon and Lego called you up and said, hey, we don’t really like this policy, we don’t like this transgender policy, we’re not happy with where you stand on abortion bans, what would you say to them?
Youngkin: “Well, I would begin with ‘Read the policy and see where we stand,’ because neither one of those statements is actually very correct. What we’ve done in Virginia, particularly on abortion, is recognize that Virginia elected a pro-life governor, and I’m very cognizant of where Virginia is today. We have a House that is controlled by Republicans and a Senate that is controlled by Democrats. Literally, just 20 months ago, there was debates on the House floor to expand abortion rights all the way up through and including childbirth, paid for with taxpayer money, and Virginians said that’s too extreme. And I think that is way too extreme. So I’ve asked for our leading legislators to work on a compromise bill to bring to my desk for a 15-week pain threshold bill, where a child can feel pain, and we’re working on trying to land that. And I think that’s a good place for Virginia to land. And I believe that when it comes to policies with regards to our children, I believe that people universally understand that parents have a right to be engaged in their children’s life. I’ve always asked folks, if you don’t think that parents should be engaged in their children’s life, like many of the progressive Democrats said last year during my election, and my opponent said it very clearly, Virginians stood up and said, no, that’s not what we believe. We think parents should be. And so, again, I don’t think this is an either/or moment. I think that’s what people try to do today, is put you in either this far box or that far box. And there is an “and” moment here, which is there is a path forward that respects parents’ rights to be engaged in their children’s lives and, in fact, fully respects the child as well.”
The moderator pointed out that Virginia governors are term limited. She then asked Youngkin if he would commit to serving his entire four-year term.
Youngkin: “Yes. So, first, let me just give a little background on that. So Virginia, of course, its founders were the founders of our nation. And if you think back to folks like Thomas Jefferson, they weren’t big fans of the Executive Branch. And so Virginia’s own Constitution has been constructed to limit the term of a Governor. So I have a four-year term, and what my whole goal is, is to be the best Governor that I can be. I think we can accomplish a lot in four years. I had a really interesting moment when I was inaugurated. A FedEx package arrived. I zipped it open and I read the letter. It was from Jeb Bush. It said: Governor, get moving, you only have four years. And inside was a clock counting down on four years. And I have that clock in my office. I look at it every morning. And I recognize that we have a big agenda, and that big agenda, we only have four years to accomplish. I’m committed to completing our agenda. And I think we can. One of our cabinet members said to me, I’ve never experienced such a sense of urgency every day. I said, we only have four years, and we have a lot to get done.”
In a statement to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, a spokesperson for Youngkin says this was not a definitive answer. “He’s focused on Virginia and delivering his agenda,” spokesperson Macaulay Porter said. “He’s focused on 2022, and he’s remained consistent in his answers.”
The moderator then asked what happens after these four years
Youngkin: “I think I’m going to first celebrate my 30th wedding anniversary with my lovely wife and really reflect on the fact that we’ve been given a great gift to serve the way we have. And then we’ll see what happens. I didn’t plan to run for governor. I saw a moment where there was a real need in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in my view, and I stepped out of my dream job. I mean, I had a chance to lead a company that I’d grown up in. And that moment was a big one for my family, where we committed ourselves to do something very different, to put ourselves in the public spotlight in a way that we never had been. So I’ll have a chance to discuss things with my wife and kids again and decide what’s next.”
The moderator then asked if that discussion include a potential run for the White House
Youngkin: “That discussion will be whatever is available at the time. I have to say, there is a long way between here and there. I had somebody describe it as various ages. An archeologist will have to decide what happens between here and there. It’s 2022, and my big focus right now is being the best Governor that I can possibly be in Virginia to get our agenda moving, which I’m very pleased with how much we’ve accomplished, and to help our Congressional representatives win in Virginia and to help a few governors.”
Read more coverage for this event: Virginia Gov. Youngkin predicts GOP midterm wins could help ease recession fears - CNBC
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by Meagan Flynn
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