Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears has publicly broken with Donald Trump, telling Fox News Business host Neil Cavuto on Thursday that the former president has “become a liability.”
Earle-Sears was a national chair of Black Americans to Re-Elect the President, and made campaign stops nationwide in 2020 in support of Trump’s re-election bid.
The former Marine cited her military background in her decision to break from Trump.
“When we look at the mission and as a marine, we’re looking at the mission, and you know, the voters have spoken, and they have said that they want a different leader, and a true leader understands when they have become a liability,” Earle-Sears said.
Earle-Sears became the first black woman elected to statewide office in Virginia with her win in the 2021 lieutenant governor race.
A Trump spokesperson issued a statement referencing her 2021 victory, predictably giving Trump credit for the statewide GOP sweep.
“Winsome Sears rode a wave of President Trump’s voters to election victory in 2021. Her comments are a slap to the face to all of the grassroots Republicans that worked so hard to get her elected. They won’t forget this and there will be a reckoning. There always is in politics,” the statement said.
Earle-Sears is the most prominent Virginia Republican to break with Trump, who is catching the blame for the failure of Republicans to take advantage of the forecast “red wave” in Tuesday’s midterms, with control of the House and Senate still up in the air two days following the nationwide voting.
Notably, several handpicked Trump candidates came up short in House and Senate races that the polls had suggested were either leaning Republican or safe bets for the GOP side.
“A true leader understands that it’s time to step off the stage. And the voters have given us that very clear message,” Earle-Sears said.
Asked by Cavuto is she was implying that it is time for Trump to “step off the stage,” Earle-Sears answered, “Yes, a house divided against itself cannot stand, and indeed, that’s where we are today.”
“And as I said before, America is the prize,” Earle-Sears said. “Why do we want to win elections? It’s because we’ve got to learn to love, to love each other, live together and govern together. And the voters are saying enough is enough,” Sears said.
Cavuto then went point-blank, pressing Earle-Sears on whether she will support another Trump presidential run.
“I could not support him, I just couldn’t, because we have seen, for example, in those states where he has endorsed the candidates, in fact, the Republicans on the same ticket who he did not endorse overperformed, whereas his candidates totally underperformed by as much as 10 points. We have a clear mission, and it is time to move on,” Earle-Sears said.
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Chris Graham
