(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Abigail Spanberger, the Democrat candidate for Virginia governor, came under fire after one of her supporters waved a racist sign targeting Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, a black Republican running for the same office.
The sign, reportedly held by activist Anita Martineau, appeared outside a school board meeting where Sears served as president. It read: “Hey Winsome, if trans can’t share your bathroom, then Blacks can’t share my water fountain.”
Curious who held up that racist sign in Virginia today attacking Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears?
She's a professional radical Democrat protestor called Anita Martineau. pic.twitter.com/EKLFBbhcCo
— John Artunkal (@JohnArtunkal) August 22, 2025
The racist message drew widespread condemnation from conservatives on X, including Sears herself.
“I’m disgusted, but not surprised. This is the ‘tolerant’ left Abigail Spanberger defends,” Sears wrote. “I’m the sitting Lieutenant Governor, second in command in the former Capitol of the confederate states. I’m an immigrant, a Marine, and above all, a human being.”
She added, “There is no place for this disgusting hatred in our Commonwealth. Anyone who doesn’t condemn this sign is complicit in approving it.”
GOP Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin echoed these remarks in a separate message, writing: “The hypocrisy of the liberal left on display again. Winsome is so much bigger than this idiocy.”
Martineau later refused to fully identify herself to reporters, claiming she hoisted the sign to “raise awareness.”
“It was satire meant to provoke conversation around the absurdity of prejudice. If anyone thinks we are actually supporting separate drinking fountains based on race they are mistaken,” the woman told Fox5 anchor Shirin Rajaee.
The Arlington, VA woman holding THIS protest sign tonight didn’t want to be identified but says “It was satire meant to provoke conversation around the absurdity of prejudice. If anyone thinks we are actually supporting separate drinking fountains based on race they are mistaken” pic.twitter.com/LRHkWjw8oI
— Shirin Rajaee (@ShirinRajaee) August 22, 2025
Sears later told Fox News that Spanberger doesn’t know “what to do with” the fact that her opponent is a black woman.
I am a Black immigrant woman serving as lieutenant governor of the former capital of the Confederacy.
Last night proved that my opponent and her supporters don’t know what to do with that. pic.twitter.com/EzNDkcA9qy
— Winsome Earle-Sears (@winwithwinsome) August 22, 2025
