Virginia’s Democratic nominee for attorney general facing pressure over resurfaced text messages

By Eva McKend, CNN

(CNN) — Virginia’s Democratic candidate for attorney general Jay Jones is facing widespread criticism for text messages he sent in 2022 suggesting a colleague should be shot.

In a private exchange between Jones and Republican Virginia Delegate Carrie Coyner, Jones griped about how the then Republican speaker of the House of Delegates Todd Gilbert was paying tribute to a former moderate Democratic lawmaker who died, according to screenshots of text messages obtained by CNN.

“Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head,” the text reads in part, referring to Gilbert and the two dictators.

The National Review first reported the news and reported that Jones tried to call Coyner after she objected to his language. He went on to say in the text messages that Gilbert and his wife are “breeding little fascists” in reference to Gilbert’s children, the Review reported.

In a statement to CNN, Jones apologized to Gilbert and voiced regret for the text messages.

“I take full responsibility for my actions, and 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,” he said.

“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. Virginians deserve honest leaders who admit when they are wrong and own up to their mistakes. This was a grave mistake and I will work every day to prove to the people of Virginia that I will fight for them as Attorney General,” the statement reads.

He reiterated those apologies in a local television interview with WRIC and told the outlet he would remain in the contest.

Coyner condemned Jones’ messages in a statement to CNN on Saturday.

“What he said was not just disturbing but disqualifying for anyone who wants to seek public office. Jay Jones wished violence on the children of a colleague and talked about shooting Todd Gilbert. It’s disgusting and unbecoming of any public official,” Coyner said.

Jones was objecting to tributes of deceased former state legislator Joe Johnson Jr., who was a longtime moderate Democrat, the Review reported. Jones was no longer a member of the Virginia House of Delegates at the time of the messages.

The Republican Attorneys General Association is calling for Jones to drop out of the race against incumbent Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares and created a website, ‘jayjonestexts.com,’ with screenshots of the messages. And a host of top state Republicans including Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Lieutenant Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who is running for governor, denounced Jones. He’s also facing intense criticism over the texts from fellow Democrats.

In a late night social media post Democratic US Sen. Mark Warner wrote in part that, “the comments attributed to Jay Jones are appalling, unacceptable, and inconsistent with the person I’ve known.”

And Democratic nominee for governor Abigail Spanberger is also distancing herself from Jones in a statement that reads in part, “After learning of these comments earlier today, I spoke frankly with Jay about my disgust with what he had said and texted. I made clear to Jay that he must fully take responsibility for his words,” she said.

There is heightened sensitivity towards language that leans into political violence in the wake of the assignation of Republican activist Charlie Kirk and the politically motivated execution of Democratic Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman in their home earlier this year.

Polling indicated a tight race before the text messages surfaced. Jones lead Miyares by six points, 51 percent to 45 percent, among likely voters, according to polling from the Washington Post and Schar School. That’s not statistically significant since the poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

Early voting for Virginia’s statewide races in November is underway.

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