President Donald Trump joined the calls for Jerrauld "Jay" Jones to exit the race for Virginia attorney general after the Democrat candidate joked about murdering a former Virginia House speaker in text messages from 2022.
"It has just come out that the Radical Left Lunatic, Jay Jones, who is running against Jason Miyares, the GREAT Attorney General in Virginia, made 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," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday.
"Abigail Spanberger, who is running for Governor, is weak and ineffective, and refuses to acknowledge what this Lunatic has done. Even Democrats are saying it is ‘RESIGNATION FROM CAMPAIGN' TERRITORY," the president continued. "Democrat Jay Jones should drop out of the Race, IMMEDIATELY, and 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 — JASON WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Saturday said that the text messages are "plainly disqualifying for anyone who aspires to public office," while Vice President JD Vance slammed Jones for "fantasizing about murdering his political opponents in private messages."
Jones, who was then a member of Virginia's House of Delegates, sent text messages in 2022 to Republican Del. Carrie Coyner in which he compared the Republican state House speaker at the time, Todd Gilbert, to former dictators Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot, according to a copy of the texts confirmed by The Washington Post and initially reported by National Review.
"Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, Hitler and Pol Pot," Jones texted. "Gilbert gets two bullets to the head."
"Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time," he added.
Jones also reportedly said he would urinate on the graves of his political opponents in the future and said Gilbert and his wife were evil and "breeding little fascists."
In a statement Friday, Jones said he is "embarrassed, ashamed, and sorry" about the text messages, but plans to continue his attorney general bid.
Virginia Republicans, who have trailed in the polls, have seized on the revelations to attack the entire Democratic Party. Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who is the GOP candidate for governor, released a campaign ad on Sunday seeking to tie her opponent, Democrat Abigail Spanberger, to the controversy.
"There's simply no way to sugarcoat the candidate's remarks," University of Mary Washington political science professor Stephen Farnsworth told the Post. "They were horrible. And the voters will determine whether they were unforgivable."
Farnsworth pointed out that "the two other Democrats on the statewide ticket have both condemned these remarks, as they should."
Spanberger said in a statement that she "spoke frankly" with Jones about her "disgust" at what he said and stressed that "he must fully take responsibility for his words." However, she did not call on him to end his campaign.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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