In a tweet, President Donald Trump accused Northam of “fighting for the violent MS-13 killer gangs & sanctuary cities.” | Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images Trump says Virginia Democrat is ‘fighting for’ violent gangs

President Donald Trump, weighing in on the hotly contested race for governor of Virginia, said Thursday night that the Democratic candidate, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, was “fighting” for violent street gangs.

In a tweet, Trump accused Northam of “fighting for the violent MS-13 killer gangs & sanctuary cities.” Trump added an endorsement for the GOP candidate: “Vote Ed Gillespie!”


Northam's campaign welcomed the link between Trump and Gillespie.

"They both want to cut funding to education, roll back healthcare, and divide Virginians for political gains," Northam spokesman David Turner wrote in an email. "Looks like Ed Gillespie’s ads are reaching his target audience — Donald Trump."

Gillespie downplayed the endorsement, telling reporters he was "a little surprised that this is news."

"I wasn't aware that the president was going to tweet," Gillespie, a former RNC chair and lobbyist, said on a Friday conference call with reporters. "But I'm obviously not surprised that the Republican president is supportive of the Republican nominee for governor of Virginia."

Northam has led Gillespie, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, in recent polls for the race in Virginia, which holds its statewide election in off years. The two are vying to succeed Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who is ineligible to run for re-election because Virginia law prohibits governors from serving consecutive terms.

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Trump’s tweet appears to parrot a recent Gillespie attack: In TV ads he has accused Northam of supporting so-called sanctuary cities, municipalities that limit their cooperation with the federal government on immigration issues. There are no sanctuary cities in Virginia.

Gillespie held the conference call with the other members of the Republican statewide ticket in Virginia to announce an endorsement from the statewide Fraternal Order of Police, but it was quickly overwhelmed by questions about Trump's endorsement. Gillespie hadn't acknowledged the late-night Twitter message before the call.

Gillespie said he didn't know the Twitter message was coming, and said he saw it pop on his iPhone. "I saw it come up on my iPhone, and my thought was, 'My ads must be running in D.C."

The Republican noted Northam raised money with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton earlier this week, but declined to say if he would campaign with Trump in the future. "We don't talk about campaign strategy," he said.