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Robert Johnson, the billionaire co-founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), has donated $500,000 to Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears’ gubernatorial campaign after she was targeted by a racist sign at an Arlington County school board meeting.
Newsweek reached out via email to Johnson through his hotel investment company, RLJ Lodging Trust, and the Earle-Sears campaign for comment.
“Virginia Democrats unanimously, forcefully and unequivocally condemned the racist sign in Arlington—period,” Lamont Bagby, a Black state senator and former member of the Virginia House of Delegates, told Newsweek in part via email on Friday.
Why It Matters
Johnson’s hefty donation, first reported by Politico, comes after Republican candidate Earle-Sears was greeted with a sign targeting her last week at an Arlington County, Virginia, school board meeting.
The incident has since garnered millions of views on social media due to what was scribed on the sign: “Hey Winsome, if trans can’t share your bathroom, then blacks can’t share my water fountain.”
Earle-Sears, who has served in her current role since 2022, called the display “a shame,” telling local ABC affiliate 7News that Democrats are “spewing hate.” Some Virginia Democrats, in remarks to Newsweek and on social media, have condemned the sign.
What to Know
The sign was held by a Democratic volunteer who, according to 7News, has been canvassing for Democrats for years.
It has prompted individuals like Johnson, an entrepreneur and business magnate who formerly supported Democrats, including Hillary Clinton in 2008 and 2016, and Terry McAuliffe in a previous state gubernatorial election, to contribute to the Earle-Sears campaign.
Johnson, in a statement provided to Politico, said he was “so appalled by that racist diatribe … that I choose to show the voters of Virginia how Black Brothers stand up to defend and support their Black Sisters.”
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Virginia Democrats, including Lamont Bagby, a Black state senator and former member of the Virginia House of Delegates, refuted claims from Earle-Sears and Republicans that members of his party supported the sign’s message.
“Virginia Democrats unanimously, forcefully and unequivocally condemned the racist sign in Arlington—period,” Bagby told Newsweek via email on Friday. “Winsome Sears’ actions and rhetoric mirror Donald Trump and his attacks on Black institutions and leaders, undermining the very progress our communities have fought for.
“It is no surprise she’s even cast doubt on the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education, invoked slavery to attack diversity programs, and supported defunding public schools in Black communities and cutting community health centers that all Virginians rely on for care. We’ve come too far, and we won’t allow Virginia to go backwards.”
Bagby, nor the Virginia Democrats, remarked on Johnson’s half-million-dollar donation.
Virginia Representative Abigail Spanberger, who is running as the Democratic nominee for governor, wrote in an X post on August 22 that the sign was “racist and abhorrent.”
“Many Virginians remember the segregated water fountains (and buses and schools and neighborhoods) of Virginia’s recent history,” Spanberger said. “And no matter the intended purpose or tone and no matter how much one might find someone else’s beliefs objectionable, to threaten a return of Jim Crow and segregation to a Black woman is unacceptable. Full stop.”
The Arlington Democratic Committee, which helped organize the rally to protest Earle-Sears, stated that the woman holding the sign is not affiliated with them and that they are not familiar with her, according to 7News.
“What happened in Arlington wasn’t just about a meeting,” Virginia Democrats’ Vice Chair Marc Broklawski wrote on X last weekend. “It was about the climate Winsome Sears is creating, one where contempt is currency and neighbors are turned against each other.”
In 2008, Johnson supported Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama and was even described as a “HillRaiser” at the time. A joke he made then about Obama believed to reference the eventual president’s past marijuana use was downplayed by the Clinton campaign, and it later led to Johnson issuing an apology to Obama—who he wanted to pick Clinton as his running mate.
Johnson, however, later made a remark that Obama would not be the Democratic Party‘s nominee if he were not Black. Johnson said at the time: “I make a joke about Obama doing drugs [and it’s] ‘Oh my God, a black man tearing down another black man.’”
Johnson also attempted to urge Black Americans to give Donald Trump a chance following his 2016 victory, noting how he personally knew Trump for years. That included meeting Trump at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
What People Are Saying
Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears to 7News: “Remember who I am. I’m an immigrant to this wonderful country, and not only that, but I’m a Black woman, and so I’m second in command in the former capital of the Confederate States. For her to talk about a water fountain that Blacks—she started with me and then she went to Black people in general—can’t be at her water fountain. When did you start owning the water fountains, my good friend? And I thought the water fountains belong to everybody. Are we going back to Klan days now?”
What Happens Next
The Virginia gubernatorial election will be held on November 4, 2025, to elect a replacement for the term-limited incumbent Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin.
A poll published by Roanoke College last week showed Spanberger leading Earle-Sears, 46-39 percent. She has led her Republican counterpart in every major poll released in the past two months, including a Virginia Commonwealth University poll in July showing her with a 12-point lead. The Decision Desk HQ average in early August showed Spanberger leading with an average of 45.2 percent compared to 36 percent for Earle-Sears.
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