Democratic Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger said that if she is elected Tuesday, she will refuse to work with President Donald Trump.
Spanberger told "PBS NewsHour" in a segment that aired Thursday that Trump is "not the right person" to rebuild Virginia's economy because of his "attack on the federal workforce."
The Trump administration has faced criticism for efforts to cut what it called bloat in the federal government. Also, the recent government shutdown has left many federal workers without paychecks.
PBS reporter Liz Landers asked Spanberger, "You position yourself as a consensus builder, someone who works across the aisle.
"Would you work with President Trump on areas like job creation?"
"I think that, you know, you don't work with the arsonist who burns down the house to rebuild it," said Spanberger, who represented Virginia's 7th Congressional District from 2019 to 2025. "And in this particular case, the individual who's responsible for an absolute attack on the federal workforce is not the right person to help rebuild our economy."
Newsmax reached out to the White House for comment.
Spanberger's comments echo a claim by her Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, that her hatred for Trump makes her unfit to be governor.
"When your hatred for President Trump outweighs your love for Virginians ... you're not fit for office," Earle-Sears wrote Friday on X.
In another post Friday, she added, "You don't have to like the President. But refusing to help create jobs in your own state? Come on, Abigail. As your Governor, I will work with anyone to strengthen our economy."
The RealClearPolitics polling average shows Spanberger leading by 7.4 percentage points heading into Tuesday's election. An InsiderAdvantage/Trafalgar Group poll released Thursday found her up by 4 points, just outside the margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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