ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA — President Donald Trump on Sunday night gave his strongest indication yet that he will endorse Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in the Virginia gubernatorial election.
Trump was asked by the Washington Examiner whether he would endorse Earle-Sears, who is the Republican nominee in the race but has yet to receive a coveted endorsement from the president.
“Yeah, I would,” Trump said outside Lehigh Valley International Airport. “I think probably she’s got a tough race. She shouldn’t, she shouldn’t have but the candidate she’s running against is not very good, but I think she’s got a tough race.”
Trump’s suggestion that he will endorse Earle-Sears follows a testy interview between her and CNN’s Manu Raju, who pressed the gubernatorial candidate on her past criticism of Trump in 2022, specifically her comment that Trump had become a “liability” for the party and should “step off the stage” instead of seeking another term.
In addressing the past comments, Earle-Sears insisted her support for Trump has been consistent, adding that they met in the Oval Office recently but declined to go into specifics on what they discussed.
The current governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, is a close ally of Trump, frequently appearing on the 2024 campaign trail with the then-candidate amid a push to try to flip Virginia red, which was unsuccessful yet yielded a close race.
Youngkin, however, is term limited, and Trump will need to turn to Earle-Sears in order to ensure the governor’s mansion remains in Republican control.
Earle-Sears will face former Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger in the election set for early November of this year.
After Trump’s hint at an endorsement on Sunday evening, Spanberger’s campaign hit out at Earle-Sears’s defense of Trump’s policies.
WINSOME EARLE-SEARS LASHES OUT WHEN ASKED ABOUT PAST TRUMP CRITICISM
“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,” campaign spokesman Connor Joseph said in a statement.
According to a RealClearPolitics polling average for the race, Spanberger holds a sizeable 7.5 percentage point lead over Earle Sears, 46% to 38.5%.
