https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/10/06/trump-republicans-pressure-jay-jones-withdraw/
https://archive.is/VSU1h
Jerrauld “Jay” Jones, Democratic candidate for Virginia Attorney General, apologized for texts that describe a hypothetical shooting of a former state House speaker.
By Michael Laris, Erin Cox, Gregory S. Schneider, and Teo Armus
Pressure on Democrat Jerrauld “Jay” Jones to end his campaign for Virginia’s attorney general ratcheted up Sunday, with President Donald Trump calling him on social media a “Radical Left Lunatic” who should drop out “IMMEDIATELY” and Democrats declining to rally to his defense after text messages they criticized as “disturbing” and worthy of “disgust.”
Virginia’s Republican candidate for governor, Winsome Earle-Sears, released a campaign ad Sunday seeking to tie her opponent Democrat Abigail Spanberger to the controversy. It concludes with the message: “Reject the insanity. Vote Republican.”
The day before, GOP demands that Jones abandon the race had begun to mount, with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) adding his voice and Vice President JD Vance assailing Jones for “fantasizing about murdering his political opponents in private messages.”
In 2022, Jones, a former member of Virginia’s House of Delegates, sent texts to a former colleague, Del. Carrie E. Coyner (R-Chesterfield), musing about a scenario in which Jones had two bullets available, according to a copy of the texts confirmed by The Washington Post after they were first reported Friday by National Review.
If then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R), Adolf Hitler and Cambodian dictator Pol Pot were the three choices, “Gilbert gets two bullets to the head,” Jones wrote, according to a screenshot. “Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.”
Jones also said he would urinate on the future graves of his political opponents and evoked Gilbert’s wife and children in the text exchange with Coyner, saying the couple was evil and that they were “breeding little fascists,” according to a copy of the texts.
Jones said in a statement Friday he is “embarrassed, ashamed, and sorry” about the texts, but indicated he plans to continue his campaign.
The political reverberations of Jones’s messages hit the broader Democratic ticket, with Republicans, who trail in the polls, using the episode to attack the entire party. The revelations of the private texts come as the nation continues to publicly wrestle with the dangers of political violence from the left and right, an issue underscored by the killing of Trump ally and conservative youth campaigner Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10.
“There’s simply no way to sugarcoat the candidate’s remarks. They were horrible. And the voters will determine whether they were unforgivable,” Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington, said Sunday. He noted that “the two other Democrats on the statewide ticket have both condemned these remarks, as they should.”
In a statement, Spanberger cited her “disgust” at what Jones said and added that he “must fully take responsibility for his words.” She did not call on him to drop out.
Early voting is underway for Virginia’s Nov. 4 election, with more than 350,000 votes already cast by Saturday, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. “Not only has the train left the station, it’s halfway to its destination,” Farnsworth said.
Spanberger, a former congresswoman, held a double-digit lead over Earle-Sears, the lieutenant governor, in the Washington Post-Schar School poll of Virginia voters that was released Friday before the scandal broke.
Spanberger had posted a much larger lead in her contest than the downballot Democrats, including Jones, by attracting stronger support from coveted swing voters who can determine the outcome of an election. Spanberger led Earle-Sears among likely voters by 12 percentage points, while Jones led incumbent Republican Attorney General Jason S. Miyares by six percentage points, which is not statistically significant given the poll’s margin of error.
State Sen. Ghazala F. Hashmi (D-Richmond) led Republican talk radio host John Reid by only four points.
A former Virginia election official said Jones could theoretically withdraw and the party could nominate a replacement. It is unclear what would happen to the votes already cast. And because the ballots are already set, there’d have to be a notice at polling places, according to the former official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
“Should the nominee of any party die, withdraw, or have his nomination set aside for any reason, the party may nominate to fill the vacancy in accordance with its own rules,” according to Virginia code.
In an interview Friday with Tyler Englander at Richmond’s 8News WRIC, Jones said he had contacted Gilbert to apologize to him, his wife, Jennifer, and their children.
“They are angry and furious, and they are well within all of their bounds to feel that way, because what I said was unacceptable and I accept responsibility for that,” Jones said. “I understand the gravity of what I said and am so apologetic for it from the bottom of my heart.”
When Englander pressed him about specific aspects of the texts or their context, Jones provided little additional information, instead repeatedly noting his “remorse and regret.”
Citing an unnamed source, National Review reported on a phone call between Jones and Coyner that followed some of the texts. The publication paraphrased Jones as arguing that the only way policy changes is “when policymakers feel pain themselves, like the pain that parents feel when they watch their children die from gun violence …”
“Then at one point, the source said, he suggested he wished Gilbert’s wife could watch her own child die in her arms so that Gilbert might reconsider his political views,” National Review reported.
In the TV interview on 8News, Jones was asked whether he had said that.
“Bottom line is that the language is unacceptable. And again, I deeply, deeply, deeply wish that it hadn’t happened,” Jones said. “I have spent the entire day really regretting all of it, and I certainly wish that it hadn’t happened, and I’m sick to my stomach when I read those words. And certainly they’re objectionable, they’re abhorrent, they have no place in Virginia, no place in this country’s discourse. And so again, I am so deeply, deeply sorry and wish that I hadn’t done it.”
Jones went on to say he is imperfect, but that Virginians should know they have a leader in him who understands when he has made a mistake. He said he would grow from it “as we head toward this election on November 4.”
In the text exchange, Coyner appeared to refer to a conversation between the two.
“You weren’t trying to understand. You were talking about hopping (sic) jennifer Gilbert’s children would die,” Coyner wrote, according to a screenshot.
“Yes, I’ve told you this before. Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy,” read the response.
In response to a request for comment Sunday, Jones’s campaign referred The Post to his previous statement.
In the new campaign ad from Earle-Sears, images and recordings of Spanberger hugging and praising Jones are spliced together with snippets of news reports covering Jones’s texts, including the sharp questions from Englander.
Despite Spanberger’s condemnation of the remarks, Trump said on social media that she “is weak and ineffective, and refuses to acknowledge what this Lunatic has done.”
The Democratic National Committee released a statement knocking Trump for “parachuting into Virginia today after throwing Virginia’s economy into crisis.” It said Earle-Sears “continues to defend Trump and his mass-firing of veterans in Virginia, who he has” called “suckers” and “losers,” while Spanberger is continuing her fight “to lower costs for Virginia families.”
Senate Majority Leader Scott A. Surovell (D-Fairfax) said in a statement Saturday that Jones’s text messages are “disturbing and unacceptable” and “cannot be defended.”
“We need accountability across the board,” Surovell wrote. “All leaders, regardless of party, must reject violent language in our politics. That standard should apply equally to everyone.”
Jones’s account on X, where he describes himself as a dad, husband and candidate, was uncharacteristically quiet over the weekend. The last posts were on Oct. 2, the day before the revelations about the texts.
“As a father of two young boys, I know firsthand what it’s like to worry about rising costs,” he wrote in one of them, which introduced an ad featuring his opponent standing with Trump and a woman peering into the camera declaring: “Jason Miyares is a coward.”
After the texts became public, Miyares appeared before reporters Saturday in Richmond.
“If you believe it is okay to wish death upon a political opponent — vote for my opponent,” he said. “If you believe it is worth the death of children to advance your political goals, vote for my opponent. If you want to give a green light to violent lunatics, vote for my opponent.”
In the weeks since Kirk’s killing, voters from both parties have expressed concern about political violence. Most Virginia voters said in Friday’s Washington Post-Schar School poll that they share those concerns.
The poll asked whether voters are more concerned about politically motivated violence or threats to freedom of speech.
A strong majority of Virginia voters — 68 percent — said they are equally concerned about both issues, with 17 percent more concerned about political violence.
“Given the current moment — with so many people anxious about violence in politics, attempted assassinations of political leaders, the assassination of a political influencer — any talk of violence against a political opponent is going to be amplified significantly,” said Mark Rozell, dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, which co-sponsored the poll.
https://archive.is/VSU1h
Jerrauld “Jay” Jones, Democratic candidate for Virginia Attorney General, apologized for texts that describe a hypothetical shooting of a former state House speaker.
By Michael Laris, Erin Cox, Gregory S. Schneider, and Teo Armus
Pressure on Democrat Jerrauld “Jay” Jones to end his campaign for Virginia’s attorney general ratcheted up Sunday, with President Donald Trump calling him on social media a “Radical Left Lunatic” who should drop out “IMMEDIATELY” and Democrats declining to rally to his defense after text messages they criticized as “disturbing” and worthy of “disgust.”
Virginia’s Republican candidate for governor, Winsome Earle-Sears, released a campaign ad Sunday seeking to tie her opponent Democrat Abigail Spanberger to the controversy. It concludes with the message: “Reject the insanity. Vote Republican.”
The day before, GOP demands that Jones abandon the race had begun to mount, with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) adding his voice and Vice President JD Vance assailing Jones for “fantasizing about murdering his political opponents in private messages.”
In 2022, Jones, a former member of Virginia’s House of Delegates, sent texts to a former colleague, Del. Carrie E. Coyner (R-Chesterfield), musing about a scenario in which Jones had two bullets available, according to a copy of the texts confirmed by The Washington Post after they were first reported Friday by National Review.
If then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R), Adolf Hitler and Cambodian dictator Pol Pot were the three choices, “Gilbert gets two bullets to the head,” Jones wrote, according to a screenshot. “Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.”
Jones also said he would urinate on the future graves of his political opponents and evoked Gilbert’s wife and children in the text exchange with Coyner, saying the couple was evil and that they were “breeding little fascists,” according to a copy of the texts.
Jones said in a statement Friday he is “embarrassed, ashamed, and sorry” about the texts, but indicated he plans to continue his campaign.
The political reverberations of Jones’s messages hit the broader Democratic ticket, with Republicans, who trail in the polls, using the episode to attack the entire party. The revelations of the private texts come as the nation continues to publicly wrestle with the dangers of political violence from the left and right, an issue underscored by the killing of Trump ally and conservative youth campaigner Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10.
“There’s simply no way to sugarcoat the candidate’s remarks. They were horrible. And the voters will determine whether they were unforgivable,” Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington, said Sunday. He noted that “the two other Democrats on the statewide ticket have both condemned these remarks, as they should.”
In a statement, Spanberger cited her “disgust” at what Jones said and added that he “must fully take responsibility for his words.” She did not call on him to drop out.
Early voting is underway for Virginia’s Nov. 4 election, with more than 350,000 votes already cast by Saturday, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. “Not only has the train left the station, it’s halfway to its destination,” Farnsworth said.
Spanberger, a former congresswoman, held a double-digit lead over Earle-Sears, the lieutenant governor, in the Washington Post-Schar School poll of Virginia voters that was released Friday before the scandal broke.
Spanberger had posted a much larger lead in her contest than the downballot Democrats, including Jones, by attracting stronger support from coveted swing voters who can determine the outcome of an election. Spanberger led Earle-Sears among likely voters by 12 percentage points, while Jones led incumbent Republican Attorney General Jason S. Miyares by six percentage points, which is not statistically significant given the poll’s margin of error.
State Sen. Ghazala F. Hashmi (D-Richmond) led Republican talk radio host John Reid by only four points.
A former Virginia election official said Jones could theoretically withdraw and the party could nominate a replacement. It is unclear what would happen to the votes already cast. And because the ballots are already set, there’d have to be a notice at polling places, according to the former official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
“Should the nominee of any party die, withdraw, or have his nomination set aside for any reason, the party may nominate to fill the vacancy in accordance with its own rules,” according to Virginia code.
In an interview Friday with Tyler Englander at Richmond’s 8News WRIC, Jones said he had contacted Gilbert to apologize to him, his wife, Jennifer, and their children.
“They are angry and furious, and they are well within all of their bounds to feel that way, because what I said was unacceptable and I accept responsibility for that,” Jones said. “I understand the gravity of what I said and am so apologetic for it from the bottom of my heart.”
When Englander pressed him about specific aspects of the texts or their context, Jones provided little additional information, instead repeatedly noting his “remorse and regret.”
Citing an unnamed source, National Review reported on a phone call between Jones and Coyner that followed some of the texts. The publication paraphrased Jones as arguing that the only way policy changes is “when policymakers feel pain themselves, like the pain that parents feel when they watch their children die from gun violence …”
“Then at one point, the source said, he suggested he wished Gilbert’s wife could watch her own child die in her arms so that Gilbert might reconsider his political views,” National Review reported.
In the TV interview on 8News, Jones was asked whether he had said that.
“Bottom line is that the language is unacceptable. And again, I deeply, deeply, deeply wish that it hadn’t happened,” Jones said. “I have spent the entire day really regretting all of it, and I certainly wish that it hadn’t happened, and I’m sick to my stomach when I read those words. And certainly they’re objectionable, they’re abhorrent, they have no place in Virginia, no place in this country’s discourse. And so again, I am so deeply, deeply sorry and wish that I hadn’t done it.”
Jones went on to say he is imperfect, but that Virginians should know they have a leader in him who understands when he has made a mistake. He said he would grow from it “as we head toward this election on November 4.”
In the text exchange, Coyner appeared to refer to a conversation between the two.
“You weren’t trying to understand. You were talking about hopping (sic) jennifer Gilbert’s children would die,” Coyner wrote, according to a screenshot.
“Yes, I’ve told you this before. Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy,” read the response.
In response to a request for comment Sunday, Jones’s campaign referred The Post to his previous statement.
In the new campaign ad from Earle-Sears, images and recordings of Spanberger hugging and praising Jones are spliced together with snippets of news reports covering Jones’s texts, including the sharp questions from Englander.
Despite Spanberger’s condemnation of the remarks, Trump said on social media that she “is weak and ineffective, and refuses to acknowledge what this Lunatic has done.”
The Democratic National Committee released a statement knocking Trump for “parachuting into Virginia today after throwing Virginia’s economy into crisis.” It said Earle-Sears “continues to defend Trump and his mass-firing of veterans in Virginia, who he has” called “suckers” and “losers,” while Spanberger is continuing her fight “to lower costs for Virginia families.”
Senate Majority Leader Scott A. Surovell (D-Fairfax) said in a statement Saturday that Jones’s text messages are “disturbing and unacceptable” and “cannot be defended.”
“We need accountability across the board,” Surovell wrote. “All leaders, regardless of party, must reject violent language in our politics. That standard should apply equally to everyone.”
Jones’s account on X, where he describes himself as a dad, husband and candidate, was uncharacteristically quiet over the weekend. The last posts were on Oct. 2, the day before the revelations about the texts.
“As a father of two young boys, I know firsthand what it’s like to worry about rising costs,” he wrote in one of them, which introduced an ad featuring his opponent standing with Trump and a woman peering into the camera declaring: “Jason Miyares is a coward.”
After the texts became public, Miyares appeared before reporters Saturday in Richmond.
“If you believe it is okay to wish death upon a political opponent — vote for my opponent,” he said. “If you believe it is worth the death of children to advance your political goals, vote for my opponent. If you want to give a green light to violent lunatics, vote for my opponent.”
In the weeks since Kirk’s killing, voters from both parties have expressed concern about political violence. Most Virginia voters said in Friday’s Washington Post-Schar School poll that they share those concerns.
The poll asked whether voters are more concerned about politically motivated violence or threats to freedom of speech.
A strong majority of Virginia voters — 68 percent — said they are equally concerned about both issues, with 17 percent more concerned about political violence.
“Given the current moment — with so many people anxious about violence in politics, attempted assassinations of political leaders, the assassination of a political influencer — any talk of violence against a political opponent is going to be amplified significantly,” said Mark Rozell, dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, which co-sponsored the poll.
