Third-party candidate Princess Blanding disrupts Virginia gubernatorial debate
Chaos erupts at the Virginia gubernatorial debate between Terry McAuliffe and Glenn Youngkin
NBC News anchor Chuck Todd lost control of the second and final Virginia gubernatorial debate between Terry McAuliffe and Glenn Youngkin after a third-party candidate disrupted the political showdown from the audience.
Princess Blanding, a progressive candidate running in the Liberation Party, began shouting towards the stage roughly 15 minutes into the debate.
"I am on the ballot! Why am I not on that stage?" Blanding asked. "This is not democracy!"
She taunted McAuliffe, telling the Democrat, "You are not gonna win Terry."
Blanding, who was accompanied by a few supporters, is heard shouting "I worked very hard to be on the ballot" during the broadcast.
Todd attempted to carry on with the debate, repeatedly telling Blanding "thank you" as she continued shouting down the moderate.
Eventually, the "Meet the Press" host lost his patience.
"Alright, security," Todd called for back-up.
Shortly after, Todd took it to a commercial break.
After leaving the auditorium, Blanding spoke to reporters about what had just transpired.
"I just made it very clear that I am a candidate to let Virginians know that their censorship of my candidacy is racist. It is very sexist. It is very oppressive. And it's a form of voter suppression," Blanding said. "Their goal is to make sure Virginians don't know that I exist so they feel that they have to choose between the lesser of two evils."
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Blanding asserted she "had to work ten times harder" to get on the ballot and it's "a bunch of bulls---" for her to be subjected to sitting in the audience.
"I will not be silenced," Blanding vowed.
The progressive candidate went on to slam the media for the minimal coverage her campaign has received, saying most of the press "don't even air" any of her interviews or outlets will "misquote" her.
"So, guess what? I refuse to play by the game and the rules of the duopoly," Blanding said. "In order for me, in order for Virginians to ensure our rightful place, we will take it. I'm not going to ask anymore. We have been told to trust the system, and the system is meant to keep third-party candidates oppressed, to make sure that people don't know about them."
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"I have done everything I needed to do in order to get on the ballot. Why am I not able to participate in the debate? We have these two rich White men that are sitting up there and you don't hear anyone reporting that I am the only Black woman in the history of Virginia to make it on the ballot. But I can't have my voice heard? I can't speak and represent the voices, views and concerns of Virginians? Again, it's not okay. And for people to sit in there- all I'm listening to around me are people talking about their timeshares and their investments while we have people who don't have anywhere to live and lay their heads at," Blanding added.
Fox News' Joe Schoffstall contributed to this report.