President Donald Trump maintains he’s steering clear of Virginia politics, but his in-flight remarks about Winsome Earle-Sears are prompting questions about whether he’s backing her after all.
The president has issued a full-throated endorsement for Attorney General Jason Miyares’ re-election bid but has stopped short of doing so for Earle-Sears or lieutenant governor nominee John Reid.
He has notably endorsed New Jersey Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli as a ‘winner’ with a ‘complete and total endorsement’ – and that ‘after getting to know and understand MAGA, [Ciattarelli] has gone all-in.’
At a White House event in which he hosted outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Trump wished him ‘good luck with the upcoming election’ and said the fellow former business executive has been ‘working very hard’ for the candidates.
‘He wants to see that young woman win,’ Trump said of Youngkin, appearing to refer to Earle-Sears.
‘And the attorney general who I endorsed.’
After the Jay Jones murder-texts scandal broke, Trump called on the Norfolk Democrat to drop out ‘immediately’ and said Virginia must ‘continue to have a GREAT (sic) attorney general in Jason Miyares who by the way has my complete and total endorsement.’
‘Jason will never let you down,’ Trump said.
When asked in June about appealing to moderate voters while running in Trump’s party, Reid told the Hampton Roads’ ABC affiliate that he is running his own race.
‘Donald Trump’s in D.C. John Reid’s in Richmond, and I’m looking to help Virginia, and so, if you love Donald Trump, awesome. If you hate Donald Trump, I really don’t intend to argue with you. I want to save Virginia and that’s why I’m running,’ Reid said.
