Washington Post: McAuliffe Spokesman Lashes Out at Bloomberg Group

It appears Governor Terry McAuliffe is getting tired of getting beaten up by Bloomberg's gun ban group Everytown for Gun Safety.  This from the Washington Post:

Brian Coy spoke dismissively of Everytown for Gun Safety, which is associated with former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, as a “group from New York” that does not have the interests of Virginians at heart.

“One group from New York and its affiliates are upset, but that does not represent Virginia views on this,” Coy said. “We had no interaction with Everytown, the national folks, until after this deal became public. We wouldn’t have even known who to call.”

The Post reminded Coy that Bloomberg came through when McAuliffe wanted money to buy the Virginia Senate during last year's election but, according to the Post, Coy did not back down from his comments:

“He talked to Howard Wolfson. Wolfson’s a political adviser to Bloomberg,” Coy said.” I don’t think he’s a policy advocate from this group. We’ve never heard from anybody at the staff level until now, after the deal has been finalized.”

The Post noted that Coy's comments were made to the Post two days after Everytown unleashed a social media campaign against McAuliffe for agreeing to a deal with GOP leadership to overturn Attorney General Mark Herring's unilateral action to break concealed carry recognition agreements with 25 states.

For Everytown's part, they turned to Andy Parker, a gun ban advocate whose daughter was killed on live TV by a disgruntled former colleague in August, to counter Coy:

“Governor McAuliffe can’t have it both ways,” Parker said. “He stood side-by-side with me and other Virginia survivors from the Everytown Survivor Network and worked closely with Everytown on the Whatever It Takes rally at the U.S. Capitol in September. I am his constituent and friend — I would have happily taken his call and pointed him to the right policy experts before he struck this dangerous deal with the gun lobby.”

Everytown also released emails to show just how much McAuliffe's office and the group had been in contact over 18 months.

McAuliffe's office also claimed they let Lori Haas, a Virginia gun ban advocate whose daughter was injured during the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007 was made aware of the deal, a claim that Haas disputes.  She told the Post that she was only made aware of it less than 48 hours before the Post broke the story.

This just shows that McAuliffe is not above throwing all of his friends under the bus if he thinks it benefits him.  If he is willing to do this to his friends, we should remember he can still do worse to us if it suits his agenda.

Hat tip to the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association.