Old Dominion News

Democrat gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe is backtracking on comments he made about parents being involved in their children's education.

McAuliffe, whose stance on parental control in education has become a focus of his campaign in the wake of a recent debate, has now launched into attack mode against Republic gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin. 


The McAuliffe campaign recently released a campaign ad alleging statements he made regarding parents being involved in their children's education were taken out of context by Youngkin.

“Glenn Youngkin is taking my words out of context,” McAuliffe said in the campaign ad.

The Youngkin campaign replied with a video showing McAuliffe doubling down on the statement seven times including comments made in a recent debate.

“I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach,” McAuliffe said during the debate with Youngkin.

In the same debate, McAuliffe also defended books depicting graphic homosexual acts recently discovered in a school's library.

"I'm not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decisions,” he said. 


Youngkin has been gaining in polls on McAuliffe in recent weeks leading up to the Nov. 2 election.  

"Two weeks before Election Day, Terry McAuliffe is struggling to save his campaign,” Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter said. “After 3 weeks of confirming more than half a dozen times that he meant exactly what he said in the debate, McAuliffe has been ordered by panicked DC Democrats to stop spouting anti-parent screeds. But it’s too late - Terry showed us his heart. This is what he believes. His attempt to fool Virginians is pathetic, and parents know the truth because the videos don’t lie. Terry will have to answer for that in two weeks on Election Day.”

Youngkin also noted the fact that McAuliffe vetoed two bipartisan bills that would have required school districts to notify parents before providing sexually explicit material to their children.

A recent Old Dominion News poll found that 89.5% of Virginia parents believe parents should have a say in their children's education; 74.2% of Virginians in total (parents and non-parents) answered the same.

The dust-up is occurring as the Pennsylvania School Board Association has left the National Association of School Boards after its controversial request for federal investigations into active parent groups they deemed "domestic terrorists." Attorney General Merrick Garland became involved after he suggested the FBI and other agencies sign onto the effort.