RICHMOND, Va. —Virginia Republican lieutenant governor candidate John Reid is refusing to step down despite pressure from Governor Glenn Youngkin over alleged explicit social media posts. Reid denies any connection to the Tumblr account that shared explicit images and believes he is being targeted because he is gay.
"The insiders in Virginia politics made a big miscalculation if they thought that I would bow down to anyone or run away scared," Reid said.
In a video posted to X on Sunday, Reid vowed to remain as the Virginia Republican Party's nominee for lieutenant governor, rejecting calls to step down that emerged last Friday.
"What colossal arrogance and abuse to a loyal fellow Republican, and like it or not, the declared legal nominee of our party," Reid said. "I am sickened and outraged at the weeks of veiled accusations and attacks on my family and I'm not going to continue to answer a never ending parade of questions and false accusations from people who we now know are solely motivated to stage a coup against a gay man whom they didn't want to be their nominee, but didn't have the guts to run against."
According to The Richmonder, who first reported the story, Reid stated that Republican Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin requested his resignation citing a Tumblr account that shared explicit images with the same username as Reid's Instagram account.
The account has since been deleted, but posts viewed through the Wayback Machine - Internet Archive showed images of men in various states of undress, including naked ones, though none featured Reid himself.
Reid claims he has nothing to do with the account and believes he is being targeted because he is the first openly gay person to run for statewide office in Virginia.
In Sunday's video, Reid alleged that pressure from Youngkin's political action committee has continued.
"Representatives of my campaign have been told by the leader of Governor Youngkin's political organization that the attacks on me will continue unless I drop out of the race for lieutenant governor," Reid said. "This is extortion and it is illegal in Virginia and I am more outraged now. I have engaged legal counsel to pursue all options against these people."
Reid became the party's nominee when his challenger withdrew on April 21 due to health concerns. That same day, Youngkin publicly supported Reid's candidacy.
In a statement, Youngkin's PAC — the Spirit of Virginia — confirmed that the governor was made aware Thursday of "disturbing online content" and had requested Reid step down.
Youngkin attended an event in Chesapeake on Monday but did not address the controversy with reporters.
"The governor had — he thought he was making a savvy political move, but there's no doubt that, at least in the short term, it's really backfired," said CBS 6 Political Analyst Dr. Bob Holsworth.
Holsworth predicted this Republican infighting would damage the party's chances in November's election. He added that while Youngkin may worry Reid's sexuality could hurt those chances, most Virginians no longer consider that aspect of someone's life important.
"What we're seeing in America today is a lot of people just very upset at these political leaders who tell other people what to do and what to think and that's what it appears Glenn Youngkin is doing right now and I think it's damaging him far more than it's damaging John Reid," Holsworth said.
In a recent interview on the CBS 6 podcast "Untold", Reid addressed being the first openly gay politician to run for state office in Virginia.
"There was a time not so long ago where this issue would have been a complete disqualifier within the Republican Party," Reid said. "I do think there has been a change in certainly not in a biblical understanding of the nature of these relationships. And I'm not trying to argue with people. I'm not trying to change their mind. I'm trying to say that I'm going to protect you, even if you don't agree with me, even if there's a something about this that makes you uncomfortable, you can count on me to protect you."
CBS 6 has reached out to Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, the party's gubernatorial nominee, and Attorney General Jason Miyares, who is seeking reelection, for comment on whether they support Reid remaining on the ticket or the governor's call for him to step down. Neither has responded.
A rally scheduled for Wednesday in Glen Allen was being promoted as the first joint appearance of all three Republican nominees alongside Governor Youngkin. As of Monday afternoon, the event was still listed on Reid's campaign Facebook page, but mentions of it appeared to have been removed from Sears' page.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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