Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears on Newsmax Saturday called out her opponent in Virginia's gubernatorial race for taking too long to distance herself from an "absolutely racist statement" on a protest sign displayed at an Arlington School Board meeting Thursday.
"It took my opponent, Abigail Spanberger, a long time to distance herself from this absolutely racist statement," Earle-Sears, the GOP nominee in the race, told Newsmax's "America Right Now." "Her people, the Democrats, had been gathered there for a whole hour, and they had all been ginned up to do all of this stuff that you saw them doing, you know, just railing against all of the rest of us."
At the Thursday meeting, Newsmax reported, protesters opposing a transgender bathroom policy held a two-sided sign: One side referenced the policy, and the reverse drew a comparison to segregation-era water fountains.
"That sign that said Blacks are not welcome to their water fountain, that had been there for at least an hour, and nobody — none of the Democrats — said anything to her," Earle-Sears told Newsmax.
"We understand it's not just one person. This is how they feel. And so my opponent, Abigail Spanberger, should have said something long before this. But here's the thing. Abigail Spanberger and the extreme left of her party are dragging the Democrat Party down into the abyss."
Spanberger condemned the sign in a statement through her press secretary, Libby Wiet, who said that the former congresswoman "condemns this repulsive display. It's racist, abhorrent, and unacceptable."
In her own post on X, Spanberger added: "Many Virginians remember the segregated water fountains (and buses and schools and neighborhoods) of Virginia's recent history. And no matter the intended purpose or tone, and no matter how much one might find someone else's beliefs objectionable, to threaten a return of Jim Crow and segregation to a Black woman is unacceptable. Full stop."
Earle-Sears on Saturday criticized school policies that, she said, force girls "to undress in front of biological males," calling it "somebody else's worldview, somebody else's ideology" rather than education.
Regarding her campaign's momentum, she said, "We've been closing the gap for a long time. Even my opponent is saying that this is a toss-up race ... But it's not going to work because we have the commonsense ideas. We know that the people want to keep their hard-earned taxes in their own pockets. They want to be safe and secure in their homes."
Earle-Sears contrasted her economic approach with Spanberger's, warning that the Democrat "would force you to really take money out of your pockets" through union requirements and regulations, while she pledged to "make sure we have a fertile environment here that keeps businesses here, want to expand, want to continue to grow."
She also highlighted public safety as a key issue for Black voters, saying Republican policies have brought crime down in major cities.
"What Black voters have seen is that under Republicans, everybody flourishes ... their communities are safer," she said.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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