RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump and other Republicans tried to fire up the party’s right-wing base ahead of Virginia’s critical November elections Wednesday, at a rally marked by unfounded claims about the 2020 election and speeches decrying vaccine and mask mandates.

The party’s nominee for governor, Glenn Youngkin, did not attend the event but got a warm embrace from Trump, who called in by phone, to urge a crowd of a few hundred in suburban Richmond to get out to vote for the businessman and first-time candidate.

“Glenn Youngkin is a great gentleman,” said Trump, who had previously endorsed Youngkin, before he reiterated his claim that that Democrat Joe Biden won the White House because of mass voter fraud.

Other speakers at the “Take Back Virginia Rally” included former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon; Rep. Mark Finchem of Arizona, who has worked to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss in the state; and Virginia state Sen. Amanda Chase, a prominent promoter of election fraud conspiracy theories. It was organized by conservative talk show host John Fredericks, a former Trump campaign chairman in Virginia.