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Youngkin’s Jeff Roe Rebound

Sure, Glenn Youngkin plays the role of half-zip-clad, keep-it-out-of-the-classroom soccer dad. But he’s a private equity grinfucker at heart, and he’s not gonna let Jeff Roe’s DeSantis dalliance get in the way of his presidential ambitions. Plus, updates on the D.N.C. bake-off and Mike Pompeo’s ’24 wanderlust.

Glenn Youngkin hasn’t given up on the dream of running, and has signaled that Jeff Roe’s semi-betrayal has not impacted his thinking.
Glenn Youngkin hasn’t given up on the dream of running, and has signaled that Jeff Roe’s semi-betrayal has not impacted his thinking. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Tara Palmeri
March 30, 2023

The biggest political news of the past fortnight, at least to insiders, wasn’t Donald Trump’s alleged pre-arrest S.O.S. on Truth Social or the latest debt ruminations. Instead, it may very well have been the announcement that Jeff Roe, the mega-consultant who has been openly and actively pining for a ’24 campaign to run since before the midterms, would be taking his talents to Ron DeSantis’ soon-to-be-official PAC, Never Back Down. Roe’s decision to go all-in on DeSantis was also an effective Dear John letter to Glenn Youngkin, whom he had lifted from well-heeled obscurity to the Virginia statehouse two years ago. Youngkin’s hopes of a long-shot ’24 bid now seemed dashed.