The final gubernatorial debate of Virginia , moderated by NBC news anchor Chuck Todd, went off the rails on Monday night when Todd calle...
The final gubernatorial debate of Virginia, moderated by NBC news anchor Chuck Todd, went off the rails on Monday night when Todd called security to remove a third-party candidate from the audience.
Princess Blanding, a progressive candidate running in the Liberation Party, was sat among the audience but after 15 minutes of debate she stood up and began shouting to the stage.
Gubernatorial candidates Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin looked on bemused as Todd continually tried to negotiate with Blanding, who claimed her omission from the debate was racist, sexist and 'not democracy'.
After several attempts to calm the situation, NBC's Todd lost patience and demanded security remove Blanding from the auditorium, before the debate was forced to cut to a commercial break.
After being forcibly removed from the auditorium, Blanding told reporters the Chamber of Commerce, who hosted the debate, was trying to stop Virginians from voting for her.
'I just made it very clear that I am a candidate to let Virginians know that their censorship of my candidacy is racist,' she said.
'It is very sexist. It is very oppressive. And it's a form of voter suppression.'
NBC news anchor Chuck Todd lost control of the debate and was forced to call security after he tried in vain to calm a third-party candidate in the audience who berated the host and debate participants
Princess Blanding, a progressive candidate running in the Liberation Party, was sat among the audience but after 15 minutes of debate she stood up and began shouting to the stage
'I am on the ballot! Why am I not on that stage?' Blanding yelled. 'This is not democracy!' She taunted democrat McAuliffe, before claiming her omission from the stage was down to racism and sexism
The gubernatorial candidates looked on bemused as Todd continually tried to negotiate with Blanding, who claimed her omission from the debate was racist, sexist and 'not democracy'
After much back and forth this summer, Youngkin and McAuliffe agreed to only two debates, the second and final of which took place on Tuesday at a community college campus in Alexandria, Virginia.
The debate was fiery from the outset and a combative atmosphere developed quickly, as each candidate accused the other of lying to voters and clashed over vaccinations, tax policy, education and their respective records.
It came as little surprise when Blanding, who had not been invited to participate in the debate despite being on the ballot, stood up to declare that her exclusion from the stage was symptomatic of voter suppression and racism.
'I am on the ballot! Why am I not on that stage?' Blanding asked. 'This is not democracy!'
Blanding is a third-party candidate running for the Liberation Party and is challenging the bi-partisan system that characterizes American politics.
Blanding describes herself on her candidate website as 'a single LGBTQIA+ mother based in the Middle Peninsula with roots in the rural working class', and her policies are focused around socialized healthcare plans, green energy commitments and social equality.
Blanding became a criminal justice reform activist after her brother, who suffered mental health problems, was tasered and shot by a policeman in 2018 after he had stopped his car on the Interstate and was walking in the road naked.
'I just made it very clear that I am a candidate to let Virginians know that their censorship of my candidacy is racist,' Blanding told reporters after she was ushered out of the auditorium
Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former governor Terry McAuliffe participated in the second and final debate at Northern Virginia Community College, in Alexandria
Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, left, and Republican challenger, Glenn Youngkin, clashed over various topics and accused each other of lying to voters
Blanding asserted she 'had to work ten times harder' to get on the ballot and that her exclusion from the debate was 'a bunch of bulls---'.
Todd tried desperately to press on with the debate, fielding accusations and outbursts from Blanding and responding with 'thank you, thank you' several times as the third-party candidate continued to berate the stage.
Eventually, he snapped.
'Alright, security!' Todd exclaimed with exasperation, at which point several security guards and members of staff descended on the auditorium and ushered Blanding out of the room as she continued to shout.
Before entering the auditorium ahead of the debate, Blanding spoke with AP reporters and said the Chamber of Commerce, who hosted the debate, only permitted her to watch from the audience and speak to press afterwards.
The debate, held at a community college campus in Alexandria, was fiery from the outset and a combative atmosphere developed quickly. Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin accused each other of lying to voters and clashed over vaccinations, tax policy, education and their respective records
'The way that felt to me was, yes, you can come and get on the bus like everybody else... but you´re going to sit in the back of the bus,' said Blanding.
'I met the requirements just like they did to get on the ballot, however, I´m being blocked.'
After she was removed from the debate, Blanding once again spoke with reporters, taking aim at a system that she said forces voters to choose 'the lesser of two evils'.
'I just made it very clear that I am a candidate to let Virginians know that their censorship of my candidacy is racist.
'It is very sexist. It is very oppressive. And it's a form of voter suppression,' Blanding said.
'Their goal is to make sure Virginians don't know that I exist so they feel that they have to choose between the lesser of two evils.'
The debate itself was bitterly contested, with polls showing a close contest just five weeks before Election Day.
The conversation was focused around three main issues: the pandemic, abortion rights and former President Donald Trump, but also touched upon education and rising crime rates.
It took less than 90 seconds for Youngkin to call McAuliffe a liar: 'In the first debate, he lied to you. That's what politicians do,' the Republican candidate said during his opening statement.
The attack set the tone for the debate, with each candidate taking on the other in personal terms, with Youngkin often the aggressor.
'I just can't understand how you can so comfortably lie to everybody,' Youngkin said during an exchange on abortion.
McAuliffe retorted, 'That's what you've been doing all night, buddy.'
Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, left, and Republican challenger, Glenn Youngkin, participate in a debate at Northern Virginia Community College, in Alexandria, Va., Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
McAuliffe often tried to link Youngkin to the former president, calling the Republican candidate who had previously been endorsed by the former President 'a Trump wannabe'.
But the topic of abortion sparked the most heated exchanges of the debate as Youngkin, who confirmed that he does support a 'pain threshold bill' which would ban most abortions after the 20-week mark, branded McAuliffe 'the most extreme abortion candidate in the country.'
'You want to be the abortion governor,' Youngkin charged, but McAuliffe welcomed the moniker and used it to bolster his push for women's rights.
'I want every woman in Virginia to listen to me closely. I was a brick wall to protect women's rights,' McAuliffe said.
'Women are tired of people like Glenn Youngkin telling them what to do with their bodies.'
Election Day is November 2, and the deadline to register to vote or update an existing registration is October 12.
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