 Ms. Lucas then took a swipe at Ms. Smiles' absence from a June 28th news conference in Chesapeake, held to counter former President Donald Trump's rally that same day with military veterans and the Democratic Party of Virginia. Smiles was listed as an event speaker in a news release sent out the day before by the Democratic Party. However, the news conference went ahead without her. Shame on you for walking out on President Joe Biden, Lucas wrote.