Virginia Lieutenant Governor and Republican gubernatorial nominee Winsome Earle-Sears criticized her Democratic opponent, Abigail Spanberger, for failing to answer several questions during Thursday night’s debate.
On Friday’s edition of The John Fredericks Show, Earle-Sears criticized Spanberger’s debate performance as overly scripted and insincere, defending her own interruptions as necessary to cut through rehearsed talking points and hold Spanberger accountable.
“People say that I interrupted her, but I had to because she was just lying all over the place. You can’t let a lie just stand like that. You have to interrupt a lie,” Earle-Sears said.
“She just wouldn’t answer any questions, and I got tired of it…We need answers to these questions, and it was just time. It was just time…You can’t be governor and lead like that. You have to be bold. You have to be courageous. I think she’s just making political calculations on how she can win,” she added.
Earle-Sears emphasized that her goal in the debate was not to engage in theatrics but to push Spanberger to answer policy questions directly, particularly regarding parental rights, public safety, the economy, energy, and her continued support for her ticketmate, Attorney General candidate Jay Jones.
“I wasn’t really trying to do anything other than get her to answer the questions that matter,” Earle-Sears said.
Concerning Jones, who allegedly sent text messages calling for police officers to be killed and wishing death upon a political rival and their children, Earle-Sears accused Spanberger of dodging accountability and showing a lack of leadership by refusing to retract her endorsement or denounce him more strongly during Thursday’s debate.
“As far as Jay Jones, if [Spanberger] wanted to get ahead of it, last night was the time to do it, and she didn’t. She made political calculations about her own future,” Earle-Sears said.
She spoke directly to voters, framing the race as a moral dilemma about “who is right for Virginia.”
“Who do you trust with your economy? She was never there when we were making all these decisions, bringing in all these jobs so that our folks could have the ability to create generational wealth. She was never there. She was never at the table. She’s going to need on the job training,” Earle-Sears said.
“I’ve been doing the work…I am ready to take charge on day one,” Earle-Sears added.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Virginia Gubernatorial Debate” by WFXR NEWS.
Editor’s Note: John Fredericks is the Publisher of The Virginia Star.
