Virginia AG candidate faces bipartisan backlash over violent, inflammatory text messages

Jay Jones, the Democratic nominee for attorney general of Virginia, faced condemnation from Republicans and Democrats on Friday after text messages from 2022 resurfaced in which he said he would “piss on graves” of GOP opponents and mused about hypothetically shooting then-Republican Speaker of the House of Delegates Todd Gilbert.

In a text message exchange with Republican Delegate Carrie Coyner, Jones used violent and inflammatory language, writing that if he were presented with a hypothetical situation in which he had only two bullets and was faced with the choice of shooting Gilbert, former Nazi leader Adolf Hitler or former Cambodia dictator Pol Pot, he’d shoot Gilbert “every time,” prompting pushback from his former colleague.

“Gilbert gets two bullets to the head,” Jones wrote. “Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.”

Gilbert could not be reached for comment. 

The content of the text messages was first reported by The National Review. 

In a statement to CBS News, Jones said he took full responsibility for his actions.

“I want to issue my deepest apology to Speaker Gilbert and his family. Reading back those words made me sick to my stomach. I am embarrassed, ashamed, and sorry… I have reached out to Speaker Gilbert to apologize directly to him, his wife Jennifer, and their children. I cannot take back what I said; I can only take full accountability and offer my sincere apology,” Jones said.

Rep. Abigail Spanberger, Virginia’s Democratic gubernatorial nominee, swiftly condemned Jones’s comments.

“I spoke frankly with Jay about my disgust with what he had said and texted,” Spanberger said Friday. “What I have also made clear is that as a candidate — and as the next governor of our commonwealth — I will always condemn threatening language in our politics.”

Spanberger’s Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, also denounced the remarks.

“This is horrible to read and should be wholly disqualifying of someone running for an office that protects the people of Virginia,” Earle-Sears said in a statement. “Jay Jones’ horrific comments are a symptom of the entire Democratic Party, and his running mate, Abigail Spanberger, needs to call on him to drop out.”

Virginia has become a true battleground state in recent years. Democrats control the House of Delegates by three seats and the state Senate by two, but the Executive Mansion is occupied by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. 

News of the messages reached the national level as well, with Vice President J.D. Vance calling for Jones to end his campaign. 

“The Democrat candidate for AG in Virginia has been fantasizing about murdering his political opponents in private messages,” he wrote in an X post. “I’m sure the people hyperventilating about sombrero memes will join me in calling for this very deranged person to drop out of the race.” 

Hunter Woodall

contributed to this report.