Sears: “Oh you mean it’s not unusual? It happens all the time… And the media is making it out to be a huge, huge thing, and I don’t understand why”

VIRGINIA – Throughout May, billboards in Hampton Roads along I-64 highlighted Winsome Earle-Sears downplaying and defending the Trump Administration’s attacks on Virginia jobs. With nearly 52,000 federal employees, the Hampton Roads region is home to the third largest number of federal employees in the country. 

The billboards reminded Virginians of Sears’ callous disregard for the devastation the Trump Administration’s senseless firings could bring to scores of Hampton Roads families.  

What Virginians are Seeing: 

NOTUS: Virginia Democrats Think They Have a New Rallying Cry: Government Job Cuts

• The Democratic Party of Virginia unveiled three billboards along Interstate 64 in Hampton Roads, home to a large number of federal workers, saying, “Winsome Earle-Sears doesn’t care about 53,394 and counting unemployed Virginians.” 
• The number is in reference to the state’s most recent unemployment number, as tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

13 News Now: Del. Feggans on the threat of federal job cuts to Virginians

• We asked Virginia Delegate Michael Feggans about the recent report and what the state is doing to support people who may be losing their jobs.
• “These cuts are dangerous, and the unfortunate part is we have individuals like our Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, who are saying or acting like it's nothing.” 

The Virginia Scope: From the trail: Democrats attack Earle-Sears with billboards

• Virginia Democrats launched three billboards along I-64 that they say are “highlighting Winsome Earle-Sears downplaying and defending the Trump Administration’s attacks on Virginia jobs.”
• The billboards read “Winsome Earle-Sears doesn’t care about 53,394 and counting unemployed Virginians.”
• They also include Sears’ comments on the attacks on jobs from a closed-door event where she said, “It happens all the time… And the media is making it out to be a huge, huge thing, and I don’t understand why.” 

Politico: Weekly Score

• Democrats in Virginia are plastering Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears’ face on billboards alongside the number of federal workers who have been impacted by mass federal layoffs.
•  “Winsome Earle-Sears doesn’t care about 53,394 and counting unemployed Virginians,” read the three billboards, which will be along I-64 in Hampton Roads, per the state’s Democratic Party.

###