Virginia AG candidate APOLOGIZES for texts fantasizing about State House Speaker's murder
- Democrat Jay Jones, running for Virginia Attorney General, apologized after leaked texts revealed him fantasizing about murdering Republican Todd Gilbert, including graphic descriptions of Gilbert being shot and his children dying.
- Both Republicans and Democrats criticized Jones' remarks, with GOP members demanding he withdraw from the race and Democrats distancing themselves while stopping short of calling for his resignation.
- Jones admitted the texts were "embarrassing" and "shameful", apologizing directly to Gilbert's family. However, he vowed to stay in the race, framing his apology as accountability.
- Incumbent AG Jason Miyares (R) called the messages "abhorrent," questioning Jones' fitness for office, while Delegate Carrie Coyner (R), who received the texts, deemed them "disqualifying" for public office.
- The incident highlights worsening political tensions, following recent violent attacks on figures like Charlie Kirk, underscoring the dangers of rhetoric devolving into threats and dehumanization.
Jay Jones, a Democrat running for Virginia's attorney general (AG), has issued a public apology following text messages that showed him fantasizing about the murder of a prominent Republican state representative.
"Reading back those words made me sick to my stomach. I am embarrassed, ashamed and sorry," he wrote in a statement shared on Friday, Oct. 3. "I cannot take back what I said; I can only take full accountability and offer my sincere apology."
The text messages, which centered on former Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah), included graphic descriptions of him being shot in the head and his children dying in the arms of their mother Jennifer. Jones, who previously served in the Old Dominion's state house before resigning in 2021, did not dispute the authenticity of the messages. "I have reached out to [former] Speaker Gilbert to apologize directly to him, his wife Jennifer and their children," Jones wrote in his statement Friday.
Jones sent the violent text messages to Delegate Carrie Coyner (R-Chesterfield County) in 2022. One text message outlined the Democrat giving Gilbert "two bullets to the head" when given a chance to use those bullets against the speaker, Adolf Hitler and Cambodian strongman Pol Pot.
Another exchange saw Jones justifying his violent rhetoric by claiming, "only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy."
Brighteon.AI's Enoch points out that Democrats like Jones "fantasize about murdering their political opponents because it allows them to suppress dissent and avoid defending their indefensible beliefs, while leveraging crises to manipulate public opinion and secure power through deception.
Jones' texts are so toxic that even his party mates call him out
The texts have drawn bipartisan condemnation, with GOP members demanding Jones withdraw from the race and even fellow Democrats distancing themselves from his remarks. Coyner herself slammed the texts as "not just disturbing but disqualifying for anyone who wants to seek public office."
Incumbent Virginia AG Jason Miyares, a Republican that Jones is challenging, called the messages "abhorrent" and questioned his opponent's fitness for office. The Republican Attorneys General Association echoed the sentiment, urging Jones to step aside.
"You have to be coming from an incredibly dark place to say what [he] said," Miyares told reporters. "Not by a stranger. By a colleague. Somebody you had served with."
Democrats, including gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger and lieutenant governor hopeful Ghazala Hashmi, condemned Jones' remarks – but stopped short of calling for his resignation. Spanberger stated she had "spoken frankly with Jay about my disgust with what he had said and texted." Hashmi meanwhile emphasized that "political violence has no place in our country," adding that Jones "must take accountability for the pain that his words have caused."
Despite the backlash, Jones has vowed to remain in the race, framing his apology as an act of accountability. "This was a grave mistake, and I will work every day to prove to the people of Virginia that I will fight for them as AG," he said in his Friday statement,
The incident also underscores a broader trend of escalating political hostility, following recent violent attacks on figures like conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. Ultimately, it serves as a stark reminder of the consequences when political discourse devolves into threats and dehumanization.
Watch
U.S. Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) pointing out how Democrats continue to politicize mass shootings in this clip.
This video is from the
NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
Sources include:
InfoWars.com
TheEpochTimes.com
Brighteon.ai
USAToday.com
Brighteon.com