JUST IN: Longtime Billionaire Democrat Donor FLIPS, Donates to Republican Candidate

Robert L. Johnson is the billionaire owner of BET (Black Entertainment Television) and a longtime Democrat donor, who contributed to candidates like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in the past.

However, he just donated a significant amount to the Republican nominee in Virginia’s gubernatorial race, Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears.

The reason for his change of heart has to do with a racist sign that a liberal protestor held up outside a school board meeting, where Winsome Earl-Sears was voicing her opposition to the county’s policy of allowing “transgender” males into women’s bathrooms.

The sign read, “Hey Winsome, if trans can’t share your bathroom, then blacks can’t share my water foundation.”

After seeing this leftist show their true colors, Johnson responded with his wallet, dropping $500K to Winsome Earle-Sears’ campaign.

Check it out:

🚨 A longtime Democratic donor publicly displayed his support for Republican Virginia gubernatorial nominee Winsome Earle-Sears’ campaign following a racist attack on the black GOP candidate during a protest outside a school board meeting on Aug. 21.

Robert Johnson, co-founder… pic.twitter.com/CUVgI7gsZr

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 1, 2025

A longtime Democratic donor publicly displayed his support for Republican Virginia gubernatorial nominee Winsome Earle-Sears’ campaign following a racist attack on the black GOP candidate during a protest outside a school board meeting on Aug. 21.

Robert Johnson, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television contributed $500,000 to Earle-Sears’ campaign.

Here’s a photo of the sign that prompted Johnson to flip and support a Republican candidate this election cycle:

BET Co-Founder Robert Johnson 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.”https://t.co/R16e4GkEXJ pic.twitter.com/jMK0I01J1m

— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) August 30, 2025

The Washington Times reported on the racist incident:

The sizable donation comes one week after Ms. Earle-Sears was confronted by a protester hoisting a sign that said: “Hey Winsome, if trans can’t share your bathroom, then Blacks can’t share my water fountain.”

Photos of the protester and the sign, which hearkened to the days of segregation in the U.S., garnered millions of views on social media.

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Ms. Earlie-Sears, who has served as lieutenant governor since 2022, called the sign “a shame” and said Democrats are “spewing hate.”

The woman holding the sign was a Democratic volunteer who had canvassed for Democratic candidates for years, according to WJLA-TV.

Winsome Earl-Sears had this to say in response to the racist sign held up in protest of her stance on transgenders in school bathrooms:

I’m disgusted, but not surprised. This is the “tolerant” left Abigail Spanberger defends. 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. There is no place for this…

— Winsome Earle-Sears (@winwithwinsome) August 22, 2025

I’m disgusted, but not surprised. This is the “tolerant” left Abigail Spanberger defends. 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. There is no place for this disgusting hatred in our Commonwealth. Anyone who doesn’t condemn this sign is complicit in approving it.

Johnson called the liberal who held up the racist sign a “useful idiot” and said he was donating to Earl-Sears to show Virginia “how Black Brothers stand up to defend and support Black Sisters.”

The Daily Caller has more:

Johnson, one of the United States’ first black billionaires, said he decided to donate to Earle-Sears’ campaign to stand with the lieutenant governor against a racist attack on her campaign.

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Earle-Sears would become the first black female governor in the country if she defeats former Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee, in November.

“Madam Lt. Governor. I was so appalled by that racist diatribe displayed by a useful idiot at a recent press event that I chose to show all the voters of Virginia how Black Brothers stand up to defend and support their Black Sisters when confronted with unadulterated racism,” Johnson wrote to Earle-Sears in a statement provided by the GOP nominee’s campaign. “I have always been a good investor and that’s why I’m investing in you.”