Winsome Earle-Sears Refuses To Answer Why She Supports Attacks on Virginia Jobs

August 4, 2025

Winsome Earle-Sears when asked about the attacks on Virginia jobs: “I’m just not going to participate. Because I want to talk about real issues”

VIRGINIA - In a recent CNN interview, when asked if she supports Donald Trump’s attacks on Virginia’s jobs, Winsome Earle-Sears refused to answer the question, instead saying she wants “to talk about real issues.”

This comes after Sears dismissed the threat to Virginia’s workforce and economy as not a “huge thing” as Virginia lost the “Top State for Business” ranking due to Trump’s attacks on Virginia workers.

What Virginians Are Seeing:

Fox5: The Final 5

Anchor: This year alone, though, I have personally reached out to the Sears campaign eight times inviting her to appear as a guest. We have the receipts – don't worry. The first seven did not result in an interview. The eighth resulted in tentative plans for one this week, Wednesday, but we weren't able to get timing correct on that. It happens. Sometimes that's politics. That's news. The invitation stands as it will until election day, and we hope to make that happen very soon. But meantime, the best we can offer you is other notable appearances she makes, like the one this afternoon on CNN. [...]Winsome Earle-Sears: Well. Look at what we're facing. We're facing a lot of, well… issues that are economically based, and we have the ideas that are going to get us there. We have 250,000 job openings. We are creating jobs as we speak. And so we understand what this is about. The president will make certain decisions. I've already met with him, and that's as far as I'm going to go.[...]Manu Raju: You had been critical of the President in the past. In 2022, you said this as he was gearing up. Sears: Manu, let me ask you.Raju: For a third run for the right. Listen. Listen to this first. Would you listen to this first –Sears: Is this what you're going to keep talking about –Raju:I want you to –Sears: I thought we were going to talk about issues that are important to the voters. I'm talking about –Raju: I want you to –Sears: Education choices that parents want –Sears: If you want to talk about the past talk –Raju:I want to talk about – I want to ask you about something that's happening right, right now in Virginia.[...]Sears: [...] I did not think that here in America we would be talking like this. The people want to talk about the issues.Raju: And I want to ask about the issue right now.

CBS19

Anchor: Earle-Sears was also asked if she supported the Trump Administration’s cuts to the federal workforce given the number of federal workers that live in Virginia.Winsome Earle-Sears: Oh you know – okay. If this is the way you want to go, then go ahead, but I’m just not going to participate because I want to talk about real issues.
The Hill: Virginia GOP candidate, CNN host tangle on air over Trump questionsRaju pressed Earle-Sears over the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal workforce this year, which have had a significant impact on Virginia, given its large population of federal workers. “Do you support the president’s purge of the federal workforce, yes or no?” Raju asked the lieutenant governor. “Oh, OK. If this is the way you want to go, then go ahead. I’m just not going to participate, because I want to talk about real issues,” Earle-Sears responded [...]Dogwood: Earle-Sears refuses to say if Trump’s federal job cuts are bad for VirginiaThe Republican nominee for Virginia governor dodged repeated questions about her position on the Trump administration’s federal workforce cuts in an interview on CNN.Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears on Friday refused to say whether she supported President Donald Trump’s federal workforce cuts, or if they had been bad for Virginia in a testy exchange with CNN anchor Manu Raju. Pressed by Raju to answer “yes or no” on whether she supported President Donald Trump’s “purge of the federal workforce,” Sears, the Republican nominee for Virginia governor, appeared frustrated with the question.“If this is the way you want to go, then go ahead,” Earle-Sears said. “But I’m just not going to participate.”When Raju first asked Earle-Sears about her position on the thousands of federal employees that the Trump administration fired, Earle-Sears seemed to downplay its importance.Earle-Sears brought up the Fairfax spat to deflect from answering Raju’s question about how she feels about the federal workforce cuts.