Virginia Senator Tim Kaine staunchly defended Democratic Attorney General candidate Jay Jones on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday, rejecting calls for Jones to drop out over a text message scandal where he fantasized about assassinating a Republican colleague. Kaine argued the Republican Party’s delay in publicizing the years-old texts, waiting until after early voting began, was a calculated political move, not a moral stand.
“No he shouldn’t [drop out], Kristen,” Kaine told host Kristen Welker. While acknowledging that Jones’s “private texts with a colleague, cannot be defended,” the former Democratic Vice Presidential nominee stressed that Jones had “apologized earnestly.”
READ: Dems Defend Virginia AG Hopeful Jay Jones Amid Texts Fantasizing About Opponent’s Murder
The controversy centers on a 2022 text exchange where Jones, a former delegate, wrote about putting “two bullets” into the head of then-Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert and joked about murdering Gilbert’s children. During a debate last week, Jones responded by saying, “I am ashamed. I am embarrassed. And I’m sorry.”
Kaine, however, turned the criticism back on the GOP, accusing them of cynical timing. “The Republicans knew about these texts for years. They waited until the ballot was printed, and they waited until hundreds of thousands of people had already voted,” Kaine said.
He also pushed back on the suggestion that Democrats were applying a double standard, directly equating Jones’s private texts to a public statement made by the Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears.
Kaine cited the Republicans’ public comments to pro-choice activists, saying, “Murder is murder and your time will come,” and noted he had not called for her to drop out of the race either.
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“The voters will make up their mind about these texts,” Kaine asserted, emphasizing that while Jones’s race for AG has been “significantly affected,” he believes the outcome of the marquee gubernatorial race for Abigail Spanberger is “not being affected by this.” Spanberger, herself, declined to call for Jones to step down during the Thursday night debate, a position echoed by many Virginia and national Democrats who have refused to cave to GOP pressure.
Kaine concluded his defense by praising Jones’s apology as a rarity in politics, telling Welker, “I wish more people in politics would apologize for their—for their bad actions and bad words.”
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