Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe was caught dodging a reporter’s question after inventing a false power he claimed he would have as governor to keep unlawful abortion clinics open.
McAuliffe is quick to attack his pro-life Republican opponent on the issue of abortion, but, as Weekly Standard John McCormack reports, he won’t answer questions about his own stance on abortion and whether he supports taxpayer-funded abortions up to the day of birth.
Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate and frontrunner in Virginia’s gubernatorial race, has been painting his Republican opponent Ken Cuccinelli as a crusader on social issues. But McAuliffe has repeatedly refused to answer questions from the press about whether he himself holds extreme positions on the issue of abortion.
Following a recent campaign event at George Mason University, McAuliffe was asked by THE WEEKLY STANDARD if he supports any limit on abortion at any point in pregnancy, or if he in fact supports taxpayer-funded and late-term abortions, as Ken Cuccinelli claimed during the first debate.
McAuliffe replied by talking about the weather:
TWS: Mr. McAuliffe, do you think it’s unfair the way Ken Cuccinelli has characterized your position on that issue–that you support taxpayer-funding of abortion up until the moment of birth?
MCAULIFFE: It’s a beautiful day out today, huh?
A campaign tracker posted video of the exchange here.
McAuliffe has also refused to tell mainstream news outlets if he holds extreme positions on the issue of abortion. It’s not clear how much of an impact social issues have had on the Virginia governor’s race. In 2009, Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds tried to put the abortion issue at the center of his campaign against Bob McDonnell and ended up losing by 18 points.
At a campaign event, McAuliffe pledged his unwavering — and disturbing — support for abortion providers and facilities in the state of Virginia if given the governor’s seat.
It is unclear who or what, besides the coffers of abortionists, this vow will benefit, since McAuliffe’s support encompasses substandard abortion facilities, practices, and doctors in the state of Virginia.
These substandard facilities put women at risk, and there have already been more than eighty documented violations inside of these Virginia abortion mills, including beds covered with blood, an abortionist who operates on women without washing his hands first, and one clinic that has seventeen pages of recorded deficiencies.
