by Brandon Jarvis
President Donald Trump answered a question Sunday night about the Virginia gubernatorial race.
When asked if he plans to endorse Republican gubernatorial nominee, Winsome Earle-Sears, Trump said: “Yeah, I would,” he said. “I mean, I would. I think probably she’s got a tough race. She shouldn’t, she shouldn’t have, but because the candidate she’s running against is not very good, but I think she’s got a tough race. But I would, yeah.”
This does not appear to be an outright endorsement of Earle-Sears, but more so hinting at the possibility he will in the future.
Trump and Earle-Sears have a complicated history.
Earle-Sears has faced pushback from die-hard Trump supporters since 2022, when she said she believed it was time for him to step away from politics and not run for president again.
Conservative talk show host John Fredericks, one of the most vocal critics of Sears from the MAGA crowd, endorsed her on his radio show in February.
“Our relationship went south when you appeared on Neil Cavuto on Fox News and basically said Trump was done and we needed to move on,” Fredericks said to Earle-Sears on his show. “As you know, I’ve been a Trump supporter forever. I stand by my guy now. He’s doing a tremendous job, but this has hurt your campaign and authenticity with the MAGA base, many of which are tuned in to me right now in Virginia.”
The comments Fredericks referenced occurred during an appearance on Fox News after Democrats overperformed in the 2022 congressional elections.
“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,” Sears said on Fox in 2022. “And a true leader understands when they have become a liability, a true leader understands that it’s time to step off the stage. And the voters have given us that very clear message. A house divided against itself cannot stand, and indeed, that’s where we are today.”
MAGA Nation did not forget those words.
“When the chips were down, and it mattered, Winsome Sears came out publicly as an avowed never-Trumper, said he couldn’t win, and said he would be a disaster as a candidate,” Fredericks said in an interview with Virginia Scope last year. “Now, all of a sudden, when she wants to run for governor and understands that without MAGA behind her, there’s no way she’s going to get the nomination, let alone have any chance of beating Spanberger, now all of a sudden she is for Trump. Welcome aboard. Great to have you for this campaign. Hope you can carry Virginia. MAGA voters have a long memory, and you are the last person we vote for in the gubernatorial nomination.”
After not publicly addressing the pushback from Fredericks, Sears explained in February why she decided to support Trump.
She said her opinion changed after hearing his speech at the Republican National Convention last summer.
“I wanted to hear that he has changed,” she said to Fredericks, describing her thought process ahead of the convention. “I just wanted to hear, on a moral level, that that’s what I was looking for as a Christian. I wanted to hear that from a moral standpoint. And then I heard it. I heard him say, after he was shot, ‘God has saved my life, and he has saved my life for a purpose, and I am going to live for him. And I humbly ask for your vote.’ I was like, ‘yes, he’s back.’ And so after that, we were good.”
This cycle is different, compared to 2021. Trump was not currently the president at the time, but he endorsed Glenn Youngkin the day after he earned the nomination.
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger’s campaign provided Virginia Scope with a comment after Trump’s comments Sunday night.
“While Winsome Earle-Sears is spending her time defending Trump’s reckless assault on Virginia jobs, price-raising tariffs, and senseless attacks on Medicaid, Abigail Spanberger will continue rolling out plans focused on lowering costs for Virginia families, protecting Virginia’s economy, and strengthening Virginia’s public schools,” said Connor Joseph, a spokesperson for Spanberger’s campaign.