Virginia Republican Delegate Kim Taylor, who just faced a politically motivated death threat, told The Daily Signal that Democrat gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger’s rallying cry for her supporters to “let your rage fuel you” may have contributed to the political tensions behind the death threat.
“As law enforcement continues their investigation, it’s clear this was a politically motivated attack,” Taylor told The Daily Signal in a statement Friday.
Taylor, who represents Petersburg, a city south of Richmond, in the Virginia House of Delegates, did not mention Spanberger by name but cited a quote from a speech the Democrat gave in June.
“Just recently, a candidate for statewide office encouraged supporters to ‘let your rage fuel you’ when talking about Republicans,” Taylor said. “Words like these have consequences, and my family felt them firsthand.”
Spanberger’s Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, has criticized the Democrat over the same comment, and the Democrat has insisted the words were taken out of context. Spanberger’s campaign did not immediately respond to the Daily Signal’s request for comment.
The Death Threat
Authorities arrested Michael Ray Strawmyer, 33, Thursday and charged him with making a death threat against Taylor, the Virginia Mercury reported.
“Earlier today, Delegate Kim Taylor received a politically motivated death threat by text message to her campaign,” Jacklyn Washington, the delegate’s spokeswoman, said in a statement Thursday. “Our campaign takes every threat seriously and this was no exception.”
The threat came just two weeks after the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and a slew of violence and threats following that assassination.
“While threats like this are never easy, they will never deter me from serving the families of our district,” Taylor told The Daily Signal. “This attack has shaken my family deeply, my daughter was in tears, and it’s a stark reminder of how real the danger of political hatred can be, especially coming so soon after the assassination of Charlie Kirk.”
“I will not be intimidated,” Taylor added. “I remain focused on the work I was elected to do and grateful for the trust my constituents have placed in me.”
Spanberger’s Response
“I am horrified to hear about the death threat made against Delegate Kim Taylor — and I am relieved to hear that the suspect is now in custody,” Spanberger wrote in response to the news. “I am thinking of Delegate Taylor and her family, and I am grateful for our local law enforcement who worked swiftly on this case.”
Earle-Sears, Spanberger’s opponent, also condemned the threat.
“Political violence is never the answer,” Earle-Sears wrote on X. “Thank you to our law enforcement officers for your quick action and support for [Kim Taylor]. I’m glad she is safe and doing well. Praying for her and her entire family.”
‘Let Your Rage Fuel You’
The Earle-Sears campaign has attacked Spanberger in the aftermath of Kirk’s assassination, highlighting a video from a June speech in which the Democrat urged her supporters to “let your rage fuel you.”
A Spanberger campaign spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the candidate’s words had been taken out of context.
“Abigail has and will continue to condemn comments that attempt to make light of or justify violence of any kind—full stop,” the campaign representative said.
A YouTube video linked in the Fox News report, which appears to include the full speech, shows Spanberger recalling that she was complaining about politics to her mother, and her mother responded, “Let your rage fuel you.”
“And so, mom, I love you, I thank you for the sage advice,” the Democrat continued. “And to the rest of us, every time we hear a new story, we let it fuel us. Every time we turn on the news, we let it fuel us. Every time something bad is happening, we say, ‘Oh, that’s motivation.’”
Spanberger called her opponent “incredibly motivating.”
She went on to encourage supporters to “write more postcards,” “knock more doors,” and “make more phone calls.”
