Gov. Youngkin talks education, law enforcement during Liberty University visit

LYNCHBURG, Va. (WDBJ) - Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin made his way inside the Vines Center at Liberty University Friday.

In front of a crowd of students, he spoke during convocation. He opened by talking about faith and its impact on his life.

Later, he touched on topics such as K-12 education.

“We can teach all of our history in our schools, the good and the bad,” said Youngkin. “We can remove divisive concepts from the classroom.”

During a visit to Texas Inn in downtown Lynchburg after his speech, WDBJ7 got the opportunity to speak to Youngkin.

He acknowledged that critical race theory isn’t taught in schools, but says divisive concepts still exist.

“Critical race theory is not a course that’s taught in school,” said Youngkin. “What’s happened is many of these concepts have made their way into curriculum. The concepts are things like telling young men and women and our kids because of their race or their sex or their religion that they’re inherently racist or that they bear the burdens of the past today.”

WDBJ7 has reached out to the department of education for a response on those remarks. A report was released in February regarding the topic.

On stage at Liberty, he continued his push for more investment into law enforcement, saying millions of dollars should be put toward police agencies to ensure safe communities.

We asked him what that will look like in our hometowns.

“This budget I’m asking for our legislature to send me, on April 4, on Monday in a little over a week, will hopefully make record investments in raising salaries for law enforcement, investing in equipment and training, investing in community relations,” said Youngkin.

Attorney General Jason Miyares spoke on the same issue in Roanoke earlier this week. He said law enforcement partnerships are necessary to keep crime down.

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