Richmond, VA – After months bashing House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy as “weak”  – and promising Virginians she would not vote for McCarthy as Speaker of the House if Republicans take Control of the U.S. House after the midterm elections –  extremist Yesli Vega flipped the script, and issued support for McCarthy in an effort to raise money and prominence. (Next week, Vega will hold a fundraiser with McCarthy.)  

This move – sad, pathetic, and deceitful to the Virginians who voted for her – was labeled a “Full Flop” by PolitiFact.  

PolitiFact VA: Yesli Vega changes tune on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy

By Warren Fiske

October 10, 2022

• Prince William County Supervisor Yesli Vega ran hard to the right and lauded former President Donald Trump last spring when she won the Republican primary for the 7th Congressional District seat.
• Vega repeatedly promised that if she is elected this fall and Republicans win a House majority, she would vote against making House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy the new speaker. 
• Now that she’s running in the general election and seeking broader support, the Democratic Party of Virginia has accused Vega of making a U-turn on McCarthy. So, we pulled out our Flip-O-Meter, which measures whether politicians have changed on issues, and gave it a look. 
• Vega criticized McCarthy during an April 20 Republican candidates forum.
• “I would not vote for Kevin McCarthy and it is because I am frustrated with Republicans,” she said in audio posted to Twitter by the Virginia Democratic party. “Weak Republicans that have no spine, we had a majority and all the Republicans did was put roadblock after roadblock to slow Trump’s agenda.”
• She doubled down during a May 31 broadcast with John Fredericks, a key Trump organizer in Virginia, and again in a June 9 podcast when Fredericks asked Vega if her opposition to McCarthy “still held.” 
• “Yes it does, John, and this is why,” she said. “When I talk to the voters in the Seventh District, folks are tired of the lip service they are not only getting from the Democratic Party but also from so-called Republicans,” she said. “They want fighters. They want people who will go down to Washington and fight for them and represent them, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.
• Vega is seeking to broaden her support this fall as she runs against U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat. The newly redrawn 7th District is centered in Prince William, Stafford and Spotsylvania counties.
• Vega has scheduled a fundraiser in McLean on Oct. 18 with McCarthy as her special guest. 
• Our ruling: During the spring’s Republican primary, Vega lumped McCarthy in with Republicans who “have no spine” and repeatedly said she would not support him for speaker if she was elected to Congress and Republicans gained a House majority.
• On Oct. 18, McCarthy will be the special guest at a Vega fundraiser. Vega said McCarthy “earned my support” through his efforts to re-establish a Republican majority.
• We rate that a Full Flop.

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