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With acts of violence seemingly increasing against Republicans, most recently with the assassination of Charlie Kirk, one Democratic Party official seeking state-wide office in a swing-state was caught fantasizing about his desires to kill a conservative lawmaker and his family.
Jay Jones, Virginia’s 2025 Democrat attorney general nominee, wrote in a series of leaked texts how he wanted to shoot Republican Todd Gilbert, a Trump administration official and former House of Delegates Speaker, twice in the head.
He further noted that he wanted Gilbert’s children to also die, according to texts obtained by the National Review.
“Three people, two bullets,” Jones mistakenly texted GOP House Delegate Carrie Coyner on Aug. 8, 2022. “Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot.”
“Gilbert gets two bullets to the head,” he continued. “Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.”
Carrie Coyner texted back her disgust at Jones, then supposedly called him to clarify his comments.
However, Jones doubled down, suggesting that he wished Gilbert’s wife, Jennifer, could watch their two children die to change the former speaker’s political views, NR reported.
According to Jones, the only way public policy changes is when lawmakers experience pain, like when they watch their children die from gun violence.
Disgusted by his comments, Coyner ended the call. Afterwards, Jones continued his barrage of text messages, saying he was only asking questions.
He then texted that Todd and Jennifer Gilbert were “evil,” and that they were “breeding little fascists,” referring to the couple’s two children.
Earlier in the conversation, Jones disparaged Virginia lawmakers for mourning state Rep. Joe Johnson Jr. after his death, texting that if those officials died before him, he would attend their funerals to “piss on their graves” and “send them out awash in something.”
The same year Jones sent these texts, he was also cited by Virginia State Police for reckless driving after going 116 miles per hour on Interstate 64 in New Kent County.
As punishment, Jones was mandated to pay a $1,500 fine and complete 1,000 hours of community service. According to reports, however, Jones performed 500 hours of this service, and this was for his own political action committee—not a charitable organization.
President Donald Trump slammed Jones in a statement to Truth Social on Sunday, calling on the former state legislature and attorney general nominee to “drop out of the race” immediately.
“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,” the president wrote.
He continued, “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. 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!”
Jones initially refused to apologize for his comments, alleging his opponent, incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares, R-Va., was “dropping smears through Trump-controlled media organizations” to assault his character.
He later apologized, calling his comments a “grave mistake.”
Still, Virginia Democrats have seemingly stood by Jones amid his comments on shooting Gilbert and his children. Virginia Beach Democrats insisted that Jones would still serve with “integrity and accountability” because he has “taken responsibility” and “apologized,” telling Democrats to “line up behind” him, Fox News reported.
Likewise, Virginia’s Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Abigail Spanberger, condemned Jones’s comments but did not call on him to withdraw from the race.
