Vice President JD Vance has joined a growing number of elected officials demanding that Jay Jones, the Democratic Party nominee for Attorney General of Virginia, withdraw from the race following the resurfacing of a series of alarming and violent text messages.
The messages, sent in 2022, suggest violence against then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert and even targeted Gilbert’s children.
The controversy erupted after the conservative publication National Review reported on the text messages sent by Jones, who previously served two terms in the Virginia House of Delegates. The messages, sent to former Republican House Delegate Carrie Coyner on August 8, 2022, expressed violent fantasies toward political opponents. RELATED: Virginia Democrat AG Candidate Reportedly Said He’d Put Two Bullets In Gop State Rep’s Head
In one exchange, Jones wrote, “If those guys die before me… I will go to their funerals to piss on their graves.” He continued with an escalating level of violence, stating, “Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot… Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.” Despite objections from Coyner, Jones doubled down, adding, “Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.”
The report also detailed that Jones called Coyner shortly after the texts and reiterated his violent rhetoric over the phone.
Coyner reportedly hung up, later writing to Jones, “You weren’t trying to understand. You were talking about hopping [sic] jennifer Gilbert’s children would die.” Jones, according to the messages, was undeterred, responding, “Yes, I’ve told you this before. Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.” He went on to direct his rhetoric at the Gilbert children, writing, “I mean do I think Todd and Jennifer are evil? And that they’re breeding little fascists? Yes.”
The messages have triggered an immediate and forceful backlash from prominent Republicans. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin was among the first to call for Jones to step down.
“This violent, disgusting rhetoric targeted at an elected official and his children is beyond disqualifying,” the governor posted on X. Youngkin also criticized Democrats for their silence, stating, “Jones doesn’t have the morality or character to drop out of this race, and his running mates Abigail Spanberger, Ghazala Hashmi, and every elected Democrat in Virginia don’t have the courage to call on him to step away from this campaign in disgrace.”
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Vice President Vance added his voice to the growing calls in an X post of his own. “The Democrat candidate for AG in Virginia has been fantasizing about murdering his political opponents in private messages. 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,” Vance wrote.
In his initial response to the report, Jones did not deny the messages but instead attacked the source of the story, claiming the messages were a political smear orchestrated by his opponent.
“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,” Jones said.
However, in a follow-up statement, the Democratic nominee reversed course, issuing a formal apology and taking responsibility for the content of the texts.
“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 wrote.
Jones also claimed to have reached out directly to the Gilbert family. “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.
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