Wasting no time after her surprise victory in the race for Virginia’s lieutenant governor, Republican Winsome Sears, who is black, appeared on Fox and challenged MSNBC host Joy Reid, who is also black, to a debate about race in America.
“[Reid] talks about white supremacy,” Sears, a former Marine, said according to the Wrap. “Does she know that I ran against a white supremacist? I mean Joy come on. Get your facts straight and then come talk to me. I’m waiting for you.”
Appearing on MSNBC’s election night coverage, Reid said that Republicans are dangerous, not because of differences in policy but because the GOP fronts for “white nationalism.”
“They’re dangerous to our national security, because stoking that kind of soft white nationalism eventually leads to the hard-core stuff,” Reid said according to Real Clear Politics.
Sears, however, said that America has provided her, a black woman and an outsider, with opportunities that are “available in America” by doing nothing special but by staying in school and studying.
MSNBC’s Joy Reid, with dangerous rhetoric that’ll get Republicans hurt: “Republicans are dangerous…[T]his isn’t a party that’s just another political party that disagrees with us on tax policy. That at this point, they’re dangerous. They’re dangerous to our national security.” pic.twitter.com/5NiWIbn1Qk
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 2, 2021
“Look at me. I am a heartbeat away from the governorship, in case anything happens to the governor,” Sears said on Fox News about her victory as lieutenant governor.
“How are you going to tell me then that I am a victim?” Sears asked of Reid’s claim that white supremacy keeps people down in the U.S.
Meanwhile, conservatives are applauding the victory as a sea-change in the debate about racism in America, in part because Sears is not just a Republican, but a conservative who strongly supports conservative issues.
When asked about her support for gun rights, Sears was able to enunciate ideals that fought back against racism too.
“Well, here’s the thing,” Sears told local WJLA News. “Harriet Tubman carried a gun and if it was good enough for her, then it’s good enough for me.
“But here’s the other thing that most people don’t know,” she said, “the gun confiscation laws were first against Black people, you see, and so, we are entitled to have guns. It’s our Second Amendment right and we’re not giving them up.”
