‘In this new ugly era, I’m what we call a conservative fighter’: John Reid fires back at Henrico rally

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Despite calls for him to step down, John Reid said he is staying in the race for lieutenant governor. 

“In this new ugly era, I’m what we call a conservative fighter,” Reid told a crowd of about 500 people at a rally in Henrico County on Wednesday. 

Reid’s supporters echoed the same sentiment. 

“John’s not going anywhere,” Nancy Akers, President of the Tuckahoe Republican Women’s Club, told 8News. 

This all comes after Governor Glenn Youngkin asked Reid to step aside as the Republican nominee. 

“I really like Governor Youngkin, but I think he made a mistake here. I really do,” Akers said. 

Youngkin made the request after he learned that Reid may be connected to a Tumblr account that previously shared sexually explicit images, an account Reid said isn’t his. 

Reid’s team claims that members of Youngkin’s inner circle are engaging in a defamation campaign, something Matt Moran, Executive Director of Youngkin’s political action committee, refuted in an affidavit Wednesday. 

“The Richmond swamp now does not like it when they encounter a different type of person who they can’t control,” Reid said.

However, Reid said, despite feeling betrayed by certain high-profile Republicans, that won’t stop him from working to ensure Republicans win in November. 

“I’m gonna be voting for our Republican nominee for governor, Winsome Sears, this fall,” Reid said. “I’m going to be voting for a Republican attorney general, Jason Miyares, this fall.” 

In response to Moran’s affidavit, a campaign advisor for Reid called it “fake” because it didn’t include certain language that affidavits are required to have under Virginia law.