Virginia’s race for attorney general just took a dark turn with Democratic candidate Jay Jones caught in a firestorm over vile text messages from 2022.
Fox News reported that Jones resurfaced texts fantasized about violence against a Republican rival and even targeted the rival’s family, yet top Democratic leaders like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York are standing by him.
Let’s rewind to 2022, when Jones, then a state delegate, sent shocking messages to Del. Carrie Coyner, a Republican from Hopewell, Virginia.
In those texts, Jones spun a grotesque hypothetical about putting bullets in the head of then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert, comparing him unfavorably to history’s worst tyrants.
He wrote, “Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, Hitler, and Pol Pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head,” as if such violent musings were a parlor game (Jay Jones).
If that wasn’t bad enough, Jones doubled down with a follow-up, suggesting Gilbert would always be the target in any grouping of evildoers, and even expressed a chilling hope that grief over Gilbert’s children could serve his political ambitions.
Fast forward to the present, and these messages have blown up into a full-fledged scandal in the Virginia attorney general race, with the texts resurfacing at the worst possible time for Jones.
During a debate on Thursday night at the University of Richmond, Jones faced off against GOP incumbent Jason Miyares, who didn’t hold back in slamming Jones’ character and fitness for office.
Jones, visibly on the defensive, offered an apology, stating, “And I am sorry. I am sorry to Speaker Gilbert. I am sorry to his family. And I am sorry to every single Virginian."
That apology might tug at some heartstrings, but let’s be real—words don’t erase the kind of judgment that dreams up violence and drags a rival’s kids into the mud.
Miyares, for his part, tore into Jones, arguing that the Democrat wouldn’t even pass a background check to serve as a prosecutor in any attorney general’s office, let alone lead one.
He also pointed out Jones’ apparent attempt to dodge community service tied to a reckless driving conviction, painting a picture of a candidate with a troubling pattern of dodging accountability.
Despite the graphic nature of Jones’ messages, Democratic heavyweights seem content to let this slide, with Hakeem Jeffries leading the charge in offering tepid support rather than a call for Jones to bow out.
Even Virginia’s Democratic gubernatorial hopeful, Abigail Spanberger, sidestepped the issue when pressed during her own debate, refusing to demand Jones's exit from the race.
Meanwhile, attempts to get a stance from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer fell flat, with no response forthcoming, leaving one to wonder if silence is the new strategy for handling a scandal this messy.
