OPINION:
Messages on private text chains have driven several news stories over the past few weeks. The lesson here is a simple truth: Don’t say things privately that you would be embarrassed to say in front of the whole world.
The worst example of that is Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones. The Democratic nominee for the top law enforcement position in the state told a former legislative colleague several years ago that he thought about shooting Republican Speaker Todd Gilbert. In the text chain, Mr. Jones wrote: “Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head. Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.”
He went on to talk about the speaker and his wife: “I mean do I think that Todd and Jennifer are evil? And that they’re breeding little fascists? Yes.” His former legislative colleague wrote to him, “You were talking about [hoping] jennifer Gilbert’s children would die.” Mr. Jones said, “Yes, I’ve told you this before. Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.” He said similar things about police officers.
At the time, Jay Jones was an adult who had served in the Virginia House of Delegates. Not only should he have known better than to put these thoughts into writing, but how bad is his rage if he has these thoughts in the first place?
If Mr. Jones had any decency, he would drop out of the race in disgrace. Democrats should withdraw their support. Instead, they are circling the wagons to defend one of their own.
The Democrat running for governor in Virginia, Abigail Spanberger, was asked multiple times during a recent debate whether she still supported Mr. Jones. She said, “The comments that Jay Jones [made] are absolutely abhorrent. I denounced them when I learned of them, and I will denounce them every opportunity that I get.”
The moderator pressed her about her support and calling on him to drop out of the race. Ms. Spanberger responded like a robot, saying, “The voters now have the information, and it is up to voters to make an individual choice based on this information.” What a cop-out. Even the moderators weren’t buying it.
When I was governor, I called on a Republican member of the Wisconsin State Assembly to resign after reports surfaced that he had made racial and sexual remarks to female colleagues. It was the right thing to do. If Ms. Spanberger can’t make tough decisions during a campaign, she certainly will not be able to stand up and do the right thing as governor.
We also learned that a number of Young Republicans said some horrible things on a private chat. Interestingly, it sounds like they were part of a group that was trying to elect a national Young Republicans president, but lost. That does not seem surprising, as their language was outrageous and inconsistent with the values of other Republicans.
An investigation continues on a group chat that included military and security officials discussing information about potential attacks. Reports show that a reporter was accidentally added to the group chat.
Each of these examples is serious. The most revealing, in my opinion, are Mr. Jones’ comments. His statements about political violence should disqualify him from any job, but most certainly from the top prosecutor position in the commonwealth of Virginia.
It is my hope that all these are rare.
We can engage in civil discourse while passionately debating issues that involve huge ideological gaps. Political violence can never be the solution to our differences in a just society. Despite a surge of violent rhetoric and actual violence on the radical left, I still believe most Americans do not support these bad actors.
Those of us who are aligned with the party that was founded by a group of abolitionists in my home state of Wisconsin want liberty and justice for all. The Republican Party was formed to oppose efforts by Southern Democrats to expand slavery into the Northwest Territory. Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican to be elected president, issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and Republicans led the charge to amend the Constitution to prohibit slavery.
After the use of a private server by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, it is crucial for everyone in sensitive government positions to take note and secure critical information. We need to protect our nation from enemies around the world.
Other than revealing national security measures, however, transparency and disclosure are good things. In the case of the attorney general race in Virginia, voters are given a real look into Mr. Jones’ temperament. If there is any decency left in that commonwealth, he will lose in a landslide.
• Scott Walker is a columnist for The Washington Times. He was the 45th governor of Wisconsin and launched a bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. He lives in Milwaukee and is the proud owner of a 2003 Harley-Davidson Road King. He can be reached at swalker@washingtontimes.com.
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