Youngkin says focus on Virginia veterans, not vice presidential speculation

WASHINGTON - Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin said his focus is on Virginia veterans and not on speculation that he was being vetted as a potential vice presidential candidate by former President Donald Trump ‘s campaign.

Youngkin spoke with FOX 5 Tuesday and was asked about his political future but turned the focus back on the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program. "Let me just begin that that I'm humbled that my name is included occasionally. I am focused on Virginia, and I’m focused most importantly today on this issue for our veterans."

One-on-One with Governor Glenn Youngkin

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin joins Fox 5 Morning to discuss another unsuccessful attempt to fix state issues for military veterans, new laws in the commonwealth and his political future.

Virginia’s House of Delegates voted unanimously Friday to restore free college tuition at state schools for families of veterans who were killed or seriously disabled while on active duty. On Monday, the Virginia Senate failed to pass the legislation that would have repealed controversial changes to that program.

"I think there's lots of topics that people want to talk about, and I think one of the reasons why the Senate Democrat leadership continues to be able to evade the scrutiny they deserve is because they deflect into different topics," Youngkin told FOX 5.

"I'm humbled by the fact that the respect for what we've done in Virginia is held at high levels," Youngkin said when asked if he would be interested in becoming Trump’s vice presidential candidate if offered. He highlighted his administration’s work in the area of jobs, education, and law enforcement hiring.

"We must support our vets and our first responders, and that's really at the heart of the most important issues we're focusing on today."

Younkin released the following statement Monday after the bill failed to pass:

"The Senate Democrat leadership is hurting our military heroes, first responders and their families every time they show up and do nothing, as well as wasting time and taxpayer money," said Governor Glenn Youngkin. "A full, clean repeal, which passed out of the House unanimously, and was supported by a bipartisan majority in the Senate, could have been signed today. An additional $45 million appropriation could have passed the Senate today, as well. Senate Democrat Leadership instead insisted on making changes to benefits without an open process. Changes to VMSDEP need to occur in an open, transparent process during the regular legislative session, with our Gold Star, military and first responder families at the table. The Senate and House need to agree to return next week, on the same day, so we can settle this issue once and for all, with the clean, and full, repeal bill. If they can’t agree on coming back together to fix this, I will call them back to do exactly that."