Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears: Lawlessness in America 'coming from the highest levels'

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Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears on lawlessness in America

Winsome Sears argues that problems in the country stem from 'the highest levels,' blaming current leaders for their failure to lead.

Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears argued on Sunday that lawlessness in America is "coming from the highest levels," explaining that she believes it is "from the presidency on down where there is no leadership." 

Sears made the argument during an exclusive interview with "Sunday Morning Futures," telling host Maria Bartiromo that she believes there is a "vacuum" and that leaders "seem to be following what’s happening on the streets." 

"That’s not going to work for anyone because the leader has to lead. That’s why they’re called leaders and they have to show the right way, the righteous way," Sears told Bartiromo.

"There is right and wrong, and you can’t look at what’s happening in the streets and smash-and-grab and say, ‘Well, it’s just social justice.’ No, it’s theft, and it’s destroying our economy."

Sears was referencing the wave of retail thefts taking place in cities across the country in recent months, with thieves stealing everything from luxury goods to eyeglasses. 

More than half of retailers nationwide, 57%, said that there has been more organized retail crime since the coronavirus pandemic began, according to a survey conducted last year by the National Retail Federation. 

Sears argued on Sunday that current leaders "follow the polls and they don’t have a righteous bone in their body." She encouraged them to lead properly. 

New Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order in January banning mask mandates in schools. The order now faces multiple court challenges, but last week, a bipartisan group of Virginia lawmakers moved to end mask mandates in the state's schools.

A group of 10 State Senate Democrats voted with Republicans for an amendment that would allow parents to opt their children out of masking in schools, a rule that aligns with the Youngkin order, which was signed on his first day in office last month.

Several other states have also moved to eliminate mask requirements in the past few weeks.

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"The governor fulfilled his campaign promise and he told everybody if you want to wear a mask, wear a mask, but allow the parents to make that decision for their own children because, as far as we can tell, the children still belong to their parents. They don’t belong to the state, not just yet, not if we can help it," Sears said on Sunday. 

"Some parents filed issues with it, and now we have a bill that’s going through and it looks like it will fully pass, and we’ll have a law here that parents will make that decision after all."

Sears was sworn in as the first Black woman – and first woman in general– to hold her position, just days before Martin Luther King Jr. Day. 

Sears, a Jamaican immigrant who came to the U.S. when she was six years old, hopes that children today can find inspiration from her own experiences.

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"Here I am second in command of the former capital of the Confederacy," she noted on Sunday, stressing that "no one can say then that we haven’t gotten a long way from where we started." 

"And furthermore I’m an immigrant. I wasn’t even born in America. And look, America has given me opportunities to succeed," she continued. 

She acknowledged that there have been problems in the past, including slavery and segregation, "but here I sit to say we are not back in those days." Sears also acknowledged that there are still problems and stated that America is overcoming those challenges. 

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On Sunday, Sears also weighed in on Biden's plan to pick a Black woman for the Supreme Court, noting that she hopes that the president will choose a judge who respects the Constitution, will uphold the laws, judge fairly, and not be partisan.

Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer, Michael Lee, Paul Best, and Andrew Murray contributed to this report.