'He doesn’t have enough friends here': Youngkin's chance of a Trump gig diminish after another VA loss

Top White House officials are frustrated with former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who they believe failed to do enough to stop Democrats’ successful redistricting push.

“The West Wing thinks Youngkin should have done more in Virginia,” said one senior White House official, granted anonymity to discuss internal thinking.

A person close to the White House, also granted anonymity to discuss the Virginia post mortem, also blames Youngkin for opening the door to the state’s redistricting effort in the first place:

“Look, there’s plenty of blame to go around. But if Youngkin hadn’t left the special session open, Louise Lucas would never have had the chance to ram through those maps,” the person said, referring to the Democratic state senator who helped lead the charge. “So he has some responsibility for losing these seats.”

The frustrations follow yet another redistricting setback for the GOP, which has Republicans in Congress and members of the Trump administration blaming one another for not doing enough. Regardless of fault, the party is confronting the very real possibility that Democrats will win the war Trump originated, likely netting House seats in what was already going to be a difficult midterm cycle for Republicans.

Youngkin, whose term expired in January, has been rumored as a candidate for multiple jobs inside the Trump administration, including Labor secretary and Department of Homeland Security secretary, which ultimately went to Markwayne Mullin.

But according to the senior White House official, he’s not likely to be considered for that role or any other.

“He doesn’t have enough friends here,” the senior official said.

Becca Glover, executive director of Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC, defended the former governor’s efforts, noting he raised and contributed nearly $500,000 to Virginians for Fair Maps and supported the Congressional Leadership Fund and Fair Maps’ fundraising efforts.

“The governor hit the campaign trail making many stops across the Commonwealth from Wise to Virginia Beach to Leesburg to motivate the grassroots to vote no,” Glover said. “He was proud to be part of a team including Speaker [Mike] Johnson and other former governors to get out the vote.”

Glover also pointed to the dozens of interviews Youngkin did and his efforts at retail campaigning.

“He continues to ask that the Supreme Court of Virginia to strike down this unconstitutional power grab,” Glover said.

Frustrations with Youngkin aren’t new. The Wall Street Journal reported more than a month ago that Virginia Republicans were complaining that Youngkin was MIA from the redistricting battle.

But a person familiar with the GOP referendum committee said “after the WSJ story, Glenn stepped up and did everything that was asked of him.”

Still, the White House hasn’t been happy with Youngkin, who is scheduled to speak this weekend at the RNC spring retreat in Palm Beach, Florida, for some time, including in the wake of last year’s blowout in the gubernatorial election.

“It started with him clearing the primary for [Lt. Gov.] Winsome [Earle-Sears], who was a terrible candidate,” a White House official said. “She was his person and she got smoked. Everyone warned him and he didn’t listen.”

Glover said, “Youngkin was not involved in the candidates’ initial decision-making process to run statewide.”