Virginia Democratic Attorney General nominee Jay Jones is in well-earned hot water over vile texts he sent in 2022 regarding his Republican peers.
The despicable messages in question, which centered around previous Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert, not only call for the lawmaker’s death but suggest it more deserving than those of some of the worst monsters in world history. “Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot [sic]… Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.”
The recipient of the texts in question, Virginia Republican Carrie Coyner, admonished their content in the thread as soon as they were received. However, she reports that Jones then called her to further discuss the murder of Speaker Gilbert’s children, even while claiming the messages he had sent her were in error, meant to be received by an unnamed third party.
United States Attorneys General oversee the legal proceedings within their jurisdictions, acting as the primary advisor to the Governor and serving as the chief law enforcement officer of their state. To place someone in charge of the law, its officers, and its implementation who believes in the summary execution of colleagues for perceived, non-criminal offences is abhorrent, and the entire Democratic National Committee should call for Jones to drop out of his race.
Jones was significantly less enthusiastic about his apology- if it can even be categorized as such- than he had been about wishing violence on colleagues. “Like all people, I've sent text messages that I regret, and I believe that violent rhetoric has no place in our politics.” He went on to blame his Republican opponent for the entire fiasco, suggesting that objections to his messages were simply “smears” against his campaign.
Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger did her best to avoid questions surrounding Jones’ texts- and his continued presence in the race. She acknowledged that sending the messages was a “poor choice,” but made no mention of his dropping out of the election. Following the controversy, former President Obama lent his endorsement to Spanberger for Governor, appearing in two ads for her campaign in hopes of salvaging her tanking poll numbes.
Particularly on the heels of such politically motivated violence in the United States, which has included successful and attempted assassinations such as those of President Donald Trump and Charlie Kirk, Americans should have absolutely zero tolerance for such language. Lawmakers should be held to the highest available standard and find no support either in or out of their own parties if they call for political violence of any kind.
When questioned about the comments, President Trump strongly condemned the language and suggested Jones unfit for election. Calling him “the animal that wanted to kill somebody who should not be allowed to be running for that office,” the President suggested good people would not vote Jones.
Should the DNC support Jones' continued candidacy? Could he possibly act as a neutral attorney general, given his violent and partisan views?
Hilary Gunn is a Connecticut native with a degree in Criminal Justice from the George Washington University. She works for a nonprofit and has previously collaborated with the CT GOP as an activist, political campaign manager and field director, and social media organizer. She is currently serving in her fourth term of municipal office and has previously acted as a delegate on the Republican Town Committee.