Sears backs Trump’s tariffs and healthcare cuts that are raising costs for Virginians
VIRGINIA – New reporting from the Virginia Independent details Winsome Earle-Sears’ record of supporting increasing costs for Virginians, including her votes for a tax increase and her backing Donald Trump’s disastrous tariffs and healthcare cuts.
Virginia Independent: Republican gubernatorial nominee Winsome Earle-Sears has endorsed President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which have caused increased prices for consumers
- Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger and her Republican opponent Winsome Earle-Sears are both promising to lower costs for Virginia families.
- Spanberger, a former U.S. representative, has released an eight-page “Affordable Virginia Plan” to make health care, housing and energy more affordable. Earle-Sears, Virginia’s current lieutenant governor, has released no plan beyond a paragraph on her campaign website.
- The Earle-Sears campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.
- Earle-Sears, however, has supported Trump’s tariffs on imported goods and services, which have driven up the rate of inflation and raised the prices of consumer goods.
- An analysis by the Budget Lab at Yale University published on Sept. 4 estimated that the average American household will lose about $2,300 in income in 2025 due to the effects of Trump’s tariffs. Small businesses across Virginia have had to raise prices they charge customers for groceries, meats, school supplies, coffee, tea, and toys.
- Earle-Sears endorsed Trump’s 2025 budget law, saying it “does so many great things.”
- In addition to taking away health insurance coverage from an estimated 310,000 Virginians over 10 years, the progressive think tank the Center for American Progress expects it to drive up the costs of energy, food, and home mortgages for Virginians by hundreds of dollars a year.
- During her time as a state legislator, Earle-Sears cast votes for bills that would have resulted in higher costs for Virginians. These included votes for a sales tax increase and higher fees for driver’s licenses.
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