Controversy Erupts as President Trump Calls for Jay Jones to Withdraw as Virginia AG Nominee Over Violent Texts
The political waters in Virginia are choppy once again, as President Donald Trump has urged Democratic Attorney General nominee Jay Jones to step aside, following the revelation of disturbing text messages from 2022. The texts, which surfaced via a report from National Review, disturbingly depict Jones’s fascination with violence aimed at Republican officials, including chilling thoughts about the potential murder of their families.
In what could be categorized as an unsettling deep dive into the mind of a political figure, one particularly alarming exchange had Jones envisioning the brutal act of putting “two bullets to the head” of then-Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert, likening him to historical figures such as dictators Hitler and Pol Pot.
Jay Jones literally fantasized about killing a man and two children, and Abigail Spanberger still doesn’t have the guts to tell him to drop out. pic.twitter.com/8CAjNqqWBI
— Winsome Earle-Sears (@winwithwinsome) October 3, 2025
But the appalling nature of Jones’s commentary did not end there. In a degree of moral decay that seems almost unimaginable in public discourse, he expressed a macabre wish that the children of his political adversaries might suffer in tragic events, specifically hoping that one of Gilbert’s children would perish in a school shooting, in an effort to sway Gilbert’s stance on gun control. “I wish one of his kids would get shot up at school and die. Then maybe he’d change his mind,” Jones reportedly remarked, providing grotesque images of a child “lying lifeless in their mother’s arms.”
WATCH: Winsome Earle-Sears BLASTS Virginia AG Nominee for Texts Fantasizing About Violent Acts
In a fiery post on Truth Social, Trump described Jones’s comments as “SICK” and “DEMENTED,” endorsing the current Republican Attorney General, Jason Miyares, as the preferable candidate. Trump’s rhetoric was unyielding, demanding that Jones withdraw from the race “IMMEDIATELY,” and urging Virginians to retain Miyares in office.
Trump’s post in its entirety read:
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. 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!
Adding to the pressure, Vice President JD Vance has echoed Trump’s sentiment, stating, “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.”
In response to the backlash, Jones has issued an apology, branding his remarks a “grave mistake.” However, he remains defiant, asserting that the messages were merely expressions of frustration during a tense legislative session, and do not depict his true character or his capability to serve.
While Spanberger has condemned Jones’s statements, she has opted not to call for his resignation. “After learning of these comments earlier today, I spoke frankly with Jay about my disgust with what he said and texted,” she stated. Spanberger emphasized the necessity for Jones to take full responsibility for his words and reiterated her commitment to opposing violent rhetoric in politics as a candidate, should she become the next governor of Virginia.
