Lt. Governor of Virginia Winsome Earle-Sears, a Republican who is running for Governor in the 2025 election, appeared on CNN for a one-on-one interview with Manu Raju.
Raju launched the 10-minute interview by asking Earle-Sears why she thinks President Donald Trump hasn’t endorsed her yet, particularly as he has been quick to endorse other GOP candidates.
(When MAGA Rep. Byron Donalds recently announced his decision to run for Governor of Florida, he did so with Trump’s endorsement. The President has endorsed Jack Ciattarelli in the New Jersey race, and thrown his support behind two competing Republicans in Arizona, Karrin Taylor Robson and Congressman Andy Biggs.)
Earle-Sears told Raju that she met with Trump in the Oval Office but would not reveal what they spoke about.
When Raju tried to follow up and asked the Lt. Governor if she supported the president’s purge of the federal workforce, she said, “You want to talk about jobs that are being lost, when we can continue to create jobs? Or is this just a talking point for Democrats?”
My interview with Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the GOP nominee for #vagov
– On why Trump hasn’t endorsed her
– Her position on DOGE cuts to federal workforce
– On how she’d handle abortion as gov pic.twitter.com/tWl18CiScp— Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 1, 2025
Raju replied, “I didn’t get a clear answer on that,” and tried to ask another question but was stalled as Earle-Sears continued to speak over him and added, “I’ve given you a clear answer but you don’t want to hear my clear answer because it’s common sense.”
Raju asked the question again, “Do you support the President’s purge of the federal workforce, yes or no?”
Earle-Sears sighed and said, “Oh, okay, if this is the way you want to go, go ahead, I’m just not going to participate. Because I want to talk about real issues.”
(Note: Residents in Virginia and neighboring Maryland have lost more federal jobs this year than workers in any other state.)
Earle-Sears continued to speak over Raju and said, “You’re not doing the right thing, you’re not doing the right thing. You’re trying to trap me and that’s not why I’m here. This is the politics of old…I’m from a third world country and I’ve seen this happen. I did not think that here in America that we would be talking like this.”
[Earle-Sears was born in Jamaica and said she migrated to the United States when she was 6 years old.]
Earle-Sears’s Democratic opponent, former Congresswoman and CIA intelligence officer Abigail Spanberger, is amplifying the CNN interview on social media.
Spanberger added: “When asked if she supports DOGE taking away jobs from thousands of Virginians, my opponent @winwithwinsome refuses to answer. Let me be clear: protecting Virginia’s workforce is more than a ‘real issue’ — to me, it’s the job of the Governor of Virginia.”