Dave Levinthal: “[...] a lot of people saying they did not do a good job. She was not somebody who you wanted to do business with.”
Levinthal: “[...] it says something - some might argue a lot about how she might operate as governor with constituents based on experiences that she had with customers [...]”
VIRGINIA – During an interview with Fox 5, investigative journalist Dave Levinthal highlighted new reporting on how Winsome Earle-Sears ripped off Virginians, then attacked those who left reviews about their negative experiences. Levinthal said the reviews and how Sears responded suggest “how she might operate as governor...”
WATCH HERE:
Dave Levinthal: And we, what we looked at was, in essence, the paper trail online that exists from this business. And the reviews were not that great. And this is something that while she's on the campaign trail talking about her business resume and acumen, she's also going to have to stand up too that when you go to sites like Yelp, Jim, Google reviews, a lot of people saying they did not do a good job. She was not somebody who you want to do business with. And that's going to be a little bit problematic, because you can run for governor, but you can't run away from the internet.
Jim Lokay: Something that you point out is not necessarily just the reviews, but the tone taken by the tone in some of these replies.
Dave Levinthal: What was fascinating is that she herself Winsome Earle-Sears was in the comments, and oftentimes fighting and sparring with people who left her negative reviews. [...] So it says something - some might argue a lot about how she might operate as governor with constituents based on experiences that she had with customers, all right?
Jim Lokay: [..] why would this be an issue or a potential issue in a race for governor?
Dave Levinthal:Well, when you're in business, a customer is always right, right? Well, not in this case with Winsome Earle-Sears. And she made it very clear that the customers were often very, very wrong, and she wasn't afraid to say that in a public forum, directly to those customers [...].
Dave Levinthal:[...] the fact that she was engaging in this type of debate and spending the time that she did is notable[...]
Dave Levinthal:[...] it was a business not only that had a lot of turbulence over the course of its life, but also, too, it died. It shut down, and it was after two she received PPP, paycheck protection Acs, loans from the government at a time when she's criticizing the government for, in essence, policies that led to the demise of her business.
Jim Lokay: Any response from the Lieutenant Governor on this?
Dave Levinthal: We tried multiple phone calls, multiple emails, and got no response. So she said, of course, a lot in public about how she felt about her business, that she is a “successful business woman,” those are her words. And voters ultimately are going to have an opportunity to judge for themselves what they think about that.
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