Former President Barack Obama stumped for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger in Norfolk on Saturday. He stressed to the crowd of thousands that Spanberger has the values that Virginia and the country need moving forward.
“Abigail doesn’t go around bragging about herself all the time,” Obama said. “But she’s great. As a former federal law enforcement officer — as a CIA case officer working on counterterrorism — she knows what it takes to keep communities safe. As a mom of three kids in Virginia public schools, she cares about helping every child and helping every teacher succeed.”
Obama began his discussion about Spanberger’s Republican opponent, Winsome Earle-Sears, by bringing up her comments about the federal workforce being fired.
In the audio, first reported by the Democratic-aligned Meidas Touch, Earle-Sears asked the crowd whether anyone had ever been fired from a job, to which some attendees confirmed.
“Oh, you mean it’s not unusual? It happens to everybody all the time? Okay,” Earle-Sears responded. “The media is making it out to be this huge, huge thing. And I don’t understand why.”
Obama took issue with these comments from Earle-Sears.
“Maybe it’s just me – seems like a pretty big thing to me, pretty huge, and I’d want a governor to be paying attention to it,” he said.
Obama then pivoted to President Donald Trump, tying Earle-Sears to him and his agenda.
“Abigail’s opponent does seem to care a lot about what Trump and his cronies are doing,” he said. “Virginia, you don’t need a governor who puts party and ideology ahead of the people she was elected to serve. You deserve a governor who will think for herself and work for you, a governor who will create jobs and not cut them, and who will lower costs instead of raising them, and who will bring people together instead of dividing them, and who will do what’s right for the people of Virginia, no matter what anybody in Washington thinks.”
The former president, who was elected in 2008 and again in 2012, struck a more serious tone as his speech continued.
“A lot of people have asked me lately whether I’m surprised by the direction the country is taking — and even though I am the hope and change guy — I try to be honest with them,” Obama said. “Yes, there are things I am worried about. I am worried about how quickly basic democratic rules and norms have been weakened. I’m worried about how willing Republicans in Congress have been to surrender their role as members of a coequal branch of government — refusing to buck the president — even when they know he’s out of line, even when a lot of them will privately admit that power is being abused in ways that will hurt their constituents and hurt the country.”
“I believe in an America in which we all deserve equal protection under the law and nobody is above the law,” he continued. “I believe in an America where every child has a chance at a good education, and anybody who’s willing to work can find a job or start a business and make a decent living – an America where opportunity isn’t just reserved for those who were born into privilege or happen to have the right connections. I believe in an America where we don’t fear each other, but look out for each other.”
“And if we want that story to continue – if we believe in that better story – we need leaders who believe in it too,” Obama continued. “We need leaders who will tell the truth and who will take responsibility and tackle hard problems and bring people together instead of tearing them apart. We need leaders who won’t serve bosses in Washington or big corporate donors, but instead will serve the people who put them there. Virginia, we need leaders like Abigail Spanberger.”
The full ticket of Democrats was present at the Spanberger event, including Rep. Bobby Scott, D-VA03, Speaker of the House Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, state Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, DPVA Chair Lamont Bagby, D-Henrico, lieutenant governor nominee Ghazala Hashmi, and – for the first time since the texting scandal – attorney general nominee Jay Jones.
“I’m running for attorney general to put Virginia first,” Jones said while onstage. “To make sure that we protect our pocketbooks, that we protect our healthcare access, that we protect a woman’s right to an abortion, and that we keep our community safe.”
Republicans responded to Obama’s stop in Hampton Roads, primarily focused on tying Spanberger to Jones.
Earle-Sears did not comment directly on Obama’s visit, but she started to attack Spanberger on social media after Jones’ speech.
“Fantasizing about murdering children was never a line for Abigail,” Earle-Sears wrote while sharing a picture of Jones onstage.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin also attacked Spanberger by using the Jones text scandal before Obama’s visit.
“When Barack Obama and Wes Moore come to Virginia today, they are stumping for a ticket that endorses this message from Jay Jones about Republicans,” Youngkin wrote while sharing pictures of Jones’ texts.
Election Day is Nov. 4.