Virginias GOP lieutenant governor calls Trump liability to the mission
RICHMOND — Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, a Republican who traveled the country in 2020 to promote President Donald Trump’s reelection, said in the aftermath of this week’s midterm elections that it’s time for Trump to leave the political stage.
“What we saw was, even though he wasn’t on the ballot, he was, because he stepped in and endorsed candidates,” Earle-Sears told The Washington Post on Thursday. “And yet, it turns out that those he did not endorse on the same ticket did better than the ones he did endorse. That gives you a clue that the voters want to move on. And a true leader knows when they have become a liability to the mission.”
Earle-Sears is the most prominent Republican officeholder in Virginia to break with Trump, who was deeply unpopular in the state overall but has maintained a firm grip on the Republican Party base.
She first made her stance known in an interview on Fox Business earlier Thursday.
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Her comments drew a harsh rebuke from a Trump spokesperson, who issued a written statement.
“Winsome Sears rode a wave of President Trump’s voters to election victory in 2021,” the statement said. “Her comments are a slap to the face to all of the grassroots Republicans that worked so hard to get her elected. They won’t forget this and there will be a reckoning. There always is in politics.”
Trump’s most prominent supporters in the state reacted with fury, swearing vengeance against Earle-Sears and Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who appears to be weighing a 2024 presidential bid. If he won the White House, Earle-Sears would complete his gubernatorial term.
Trump himself weighed in Friday morning on his Truth Social site, though he didn’t mention Earle-Sears and instead took aim at Youngkin, a potential rival: “Young Kin (now that’s an interesting take. Sounds Chinese, doesn’t it?) in Virginia couldn’t have won without me...But he knows that, and admits it. Besides, having a hard time with the Dems in Virginia - But he’ll get it done!”
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Radio host John Fredericks, chairman of Trump’s Virginia campaigns in 2016 and 2020, said he thought that Youngkin had put Earle-Sears up to making the comments.
“If you think Winsome Sears did this without the approval of Glenn Youngkin, you’re naive,” Fredericks said. “This is his salvo to run for president. Good luck beating Team Trump in Virginia. We’ll crush him in his own state.”
Asked if Youngkin knew ahead of time that she would publicly split with Trump, Earle-Sears declined to say.
“I’m not going to say ‘yes’ and I’m not going to say ‘no,’ ” she said. “I’m just going to leave it alone.”
Spokespeople for Youngkin did not respond to requests for comment. Asked about Earle-Sears at a Veterans Day event on Friday, Youngkin told reporters that he had nothing to do with her remarks. Asked about Trump’s statement, Youngkin said he had not seen it, but then added: “You all know me, I do not call people names, I really work hard to bring people together and that’s what we’re working on.”
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Gianni Snidle, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Virginia, pressed Youngkin to take a stand, noting the “blatantly racist” language that Trump used to slam Youngkin.
“It comes as no surprise that Governor Youngkin refuses to buck Trump,” Snidle said in a text to The Post. “He’s showing once again how out of touch he is with Virginians. If he truly wants to be a ‘unifier’ he should disavow Trump like his own Lt. Governor did.”
A former state delegate and Marine, Sears, a Jamaican immigrant, served as chairwoman of Black Americans to Re-elect the President two years ago and won the lieutenant governorship last year on a ticket led by Youngkin.
“We’ve got a slew of very well-qualified people” besides Trump to run for the White House, Earle-Sears said. Asked if she counts Youngkin among them, Earle-Sears did not answer directly.
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“Well, you know I support family,” she said with a chuckle. “I’m not endorsing anybody.”
Youngkin has walked a tightrope with Trump as he’s sought to appeal to the former president’s fans and foes alike, often mincing words, avoiding policy specifics and telegraphing a suburban-dad vibe with his trademark red vest.
Earle-Sears is his polar opposite, as outspoken as Youngkin is cagey. Her signature campaign accessory was an assault rifle, strapped across her blouse and skirt in a photo plastered on campaign signs. Earle-Sears memorably used one of her high-heeled pumps to bang the Virginia Senate to order one day early this year, after a prankster hid her gavel.
Earle-Sears said she still thinks highly of what Trump accomplished for Black Americans, crediting his administration for the increase in Black entrepreneurship and decrease in Black unemployment that occurred during his presidency.
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“I was all over this country, campaigning for him, trying to win Black voters over because he had done very good for us,” she said. “But you know, ultimately, he lost and we moved on. And we were hoping that he could also move on.”
Earle-Sears’s comments came one day after Del. Tim Anderson (R-Virginia Beach) disavowed the former president he’d once styled himself after: “I should have said this two years ago,” he told the Virginia Mercury.
State Sen. Amanda F. Chase (R-Chesterfield), a self-described “Trump in heels,” blasted both Anderson and Earle-Sears as “weak … Republicans.”
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