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NORFOLK, Va. – Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears came out swinging against what she called former Rep. Abigail Spanberger’s dodges on calls for fellow Democrat Jay Jones to drop out of the attorney general contest after texts envisioning the murder of a Republican leader came to light.
Throughout the debate, Spanberger mostly declined to make eye contact with Earle-Sears and ignored her when she was interrupted.
Earle-Sears repeatedly addressed Spanberger directly during both women’s answers but did not receive any direct responses in return.
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Early on, Earle-Sears interrupted Spanberger, asking her to give a direct answer. The Democrat told the moderators she was “aware of these messages” and that they were “absolutely abhorrent.”
“I denounced them when I learned of them and I will denounce them every chance I get,” Spanberger said, as Earle-Sears interjected once more to attempt to press for a straight answer.
“I didn’t hear an answer on [the Jones] question,” co-moderator Deanna Albrittin told Spanberger.
Since Earle-Sears had already called for Jones to drop out, the moderators asked her instead about President Donald Trump’s stated “hate” for political opponents after the murder of Charlie Kirk.
Earle-Sears later turned to Spanberger and admonished her for refusing to give a yes-or-no answer on Jones, asking whether it would take Jones “pulling the trigger” to actually condemn what he had said about then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah.
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The Republican was later asked whether she needs Trump’s endorsement, as he has explicitly endorsed lieutenant governor candidate John Reid but offered more muted comments for Earle-Sears during the span of the race.
Earle-Sears also criticized Spanberger for purportedly waiting several days before condemning a left-wing protester’s racist sign at an Arlington anti-transgender-sports demonstration headlined by the Republican candidate.
The sign said that Earle-Sears should not be able to share water fountains (as a Black woman) if transgender students cannot share bathrooms.
In the latter regard, moderator Tom Schaad asked Spanberger whether transgender girls born male should be able to use female bathrooms and be on co-ed sports teams.
“Nothing is more important to me than their safety and their experience in schools,” Spanberger said, before offering a lengthier answer that also cited her experience as a former federal agent investigating crimes against children.
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“That work, in part, has earned me the endorsement of the Police Benevolent Association,” she said.
Schaad reiterated the question, saying there had been no direct answer, and later attempted to ask whether Spanberger would rescind an executive order by Gov. Glenn Youngkin laying out a bathroom policy along biological lines.
“My opponent will not answer the question because she voted for men nude in girls’ locker rooms,” Earle-Sears later said.
Later, both candidates were asked whether they would continue or undo any specific policies from Youngkin – whom the moderators reported enjoys high approval ratings as he closes out his last three months of his term.
Earle-Sears said she would not disclose private conversations with Youngkin but that she would not undo their progress.
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Spanberger said she would continue Youngkin’s efforts to grow advanced nuclear power in the commonwealth.
After the event, Virginia House Speaker Don Scott, Jr., D-Portsmouth, spoke to reporters as a surrogate for Spanberger.
Scott said there is a “double standard” in pressuring Spanberger to call for Jones to drop out, claiming Earle-Sears has not denounced violent rhetoric from Trump.
The speaker, who represents the area just south of the debate site, claimed Earle-Sears did not as vociferously condemn Trump for a remark he made in 2024 when discussing neoconservatism, and former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney’s aisle-crossing endorsement of Kamala Harris.
“Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her. OK? Let’s see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face,” Trump said as a rebuttal to people in the political establishment who are war “hawks” or support proverbial forever-wars.
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The Trump campaign noted at the time that the president did not call for Cheney to be executed and that the press covered the remark “disgracefully,” while fact-checker PolitiFact deemed the comment illustrative of a “combat zone” situation rather than a call for murder.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Earle-Sears campaign for comment on the debate, including the way the candidates comported themselves on stage.
“If you’re wondering who’s capable of leading Virginia, this was the debate to watch,” Earle-Sears spokesperson Peyton Vogel told Fox News Digital.
“Abigail Spanberger couldn’t even look Lt. Gov. Earle-Sears in the eye and confirmed she will not stand up to Jay Jones’ threat-laced, murderous rhetoric.”
“If she can’t lead her own ticket, she can’t lead the Commonwealth,” Vogel said.
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