
Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki called out Republican Virginia gubernatorial candidate and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears for running her campaign with a version of Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign rhetoric, saying that it doesn’t work if you’re not Trump.
Psaki was referring to Earle-Sears’ many anti-trans ads, some of which even included the Trump-inspired slogan, “Spanberger is for they/them, not for us,” referring to Democratic candidate and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who handily won the election this week.
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“Living in northern Virginia, there were so many ads, you were like, ‘What in the hell is going on?’ There are all these anti-trans ads every time you turn on the TV,” Psaki explained. “It was the majority. I looked this up because I was curious. 57% of all of the money spent by both the campaign for Winsome Sears as well as the outside groups was on anti-trans ads.”
“More than 50%?” fellow MSNBC host Rachel Maddow asked.
“More than 50%!” Psaki confirmed. “Every time you turned on the TV for a long while, that was what was on the TV.”
“The other lesson, I think, is you can’t just take a page out of the Trump playbook and just expect it to work. That’s what she basically did.”
THE MAJORITY of money spent by Winsome Earle-Sears and outside groups in Virginia went to anti-trans ads. The GOP needs a new playbook after tonight. Voters are tired of this song. pic.twitter.com/JhCKIn7zU4
— Ari Drennen (@AriDrennen) November 5, 2025