President Trump on Sunday called for Jay Jones to withdraw from the Virginia attorney-general race, citing text messages the Democrat sent in 2022 fantasizing about shooting a Republican state official.
Mr. Trump described Mr. Jones as a “radical left lunatic,” accusing him of making “SICK and DEMENTED jokes, if they were jokes at all, which were not funny, and that he wrote down and sent around to people, concerning the murdering of a Republican Legislator, his wife, and their children.”
A recent National Review report detailed the violent texts Mr. Jones, who briefly represented Norfolk in the Virginia General Assembly, sent to a Republican state legislator about then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert.
In the messages to then-Delegate Carrie Coyner, Mr. Jones vented frustration over Republican praise for state Delegate Joe Johnson Jr. following his death.
Referring to Mr. Gilbert and other GOP figures, Mr. Jones wrote that if they died before him, he would attend their funerals “to p—- on their graves” and “send them out awash in something.”
Mr. Jones went further, writing: “Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, Hitler, and Pol Pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.”
He added, “Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.”
The National Review report showed that Mr. Jones was initially called out for his early texts by Ms. Coyner — “Jay, please stop” - but he doubled down.
According to the conservative magazine, Mr. Jones called Ms. Coyner and referred to Mr. Gilbert’s minor children as fascists and suggested that Mr. Gilbert’s wife witnessing the death of one of their children might change his political views.
Mr. Trump said Democrats are signaling that Mr. Jones should consider stepping aside, though no significant Democrat, including gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger, has publicly done so.
“Democrat Jay Jones should drop out of the Race, IMMEDIATELY,” Mr. Trump said Sunday on Truth Social. “The people of Virginia must continue to have a GREAT Attorney General in Jason Miyares, who, by the way, has my Complete and Total Endorsement.”
Seeking to stop the bleeding, the Jones campaign released a statement Friday, saying it was more important to rebuke Mr. Trump by electing himself.
“Like all people, I’ve sent text messages that I regret and I believe that violent rhetoric has no place in our politics,” Mr. Jones said in the statement. “Let’s be clear about what is happening in the Attorney General race right now: Jason Miyares is dropping smears through Trump-controlled media organizations to assault my character and rescue his desperate campaign.”
“This is a strategy that ensures Jason Miyares will continue to be accountable to Donald Trump, not the people of Virginia,” he said.
He later released a statement vowing to “take full responsibility for my actions,” without elaborating on what that means.
“I want to issue my deepest apology to Speaker Gilbert and his family,” Jones said. “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.”
He added that if he’s elected, he “will work every day to prove to the people of Virginia that I will fight for them as Attorney General.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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