In 1919, as a bribery scandal to fix the World Series involving baseball player “Shoeless” Joe Jackson of the Black Sox made headlines, an anguished young fan confronted him pleading, “Say it ain’t so, Joe.” Jackson later admitted to taking a bribe and was banned for life from playing again. Now, recently publicized deranged fantasies of Virginia Democrat attorney general candidate and former delegate Jay Jones must have his supporters uttering, “Say it ain’t so, Jay.”

Yet, Democrats are absolutely derelict in failing to pull this candidate’s endorsement.

The text messages, sent by Jones in August 2022, concerned his thoughts on then-state House Speaker, Republican Todd Gilbert, a man whom Jones fantasized about assassinating. Alleging that Gilbert was no different than a mass murderer, Jones wrote that if he had only two bullets and three potential victims—naming Germany’s Adolf Hitler, Cambodian dictator Pol Pot, and Gilbert—then “Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.” Not content to leave it at that, the University of Virginia Law School graduate then went on to text he “wished” death upon Gilbert’s children as well.

Jones even ranted about a recently deceased member of his own party, criticizing him for being a moderate. Returning to Gilbert and his Republican associates, he wrote, “If those guys die before me, I will go to their funerals to piss on their graves” to “send them out awash in something.”

The recipient of Jones’s text messages was most disturbed, writing back for him to “Please stop,” adding, “It really bothers me when you talk about hurting people or wishing death on them. … It isn’t ok. … No matter who they are.”

Jones stopped the text messages, but then apparently called the recipient to double down on what he had written. He reportedly told her, in order to change, parents had to feel the pain of losing a child to gun violence. Jones “suggested he wished Gilbert’s wife could watch her own child die in her arms so that Gilbert might reconsider his political views.” The recipient reported hanging up the phone “in disgust.”

After the hang up, however, Jones went back to texting more messages, claiming he was “just asking questions.” The recipient chastised him again for hoping the Gilbert children would die. Still unable to let the issue go, Jones texted, “Yes, I’ve told you this before. Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy. I mean do I think Todd and Jennifer [Gilbert’s wife] are evil? And that they’re breeding little fascists? Yes.”

Political animosity between members of opposing parties is normal; however, what Jones wrote and said cannot in any way be defended as normal. His actions were sick, revealing a worrisome dark side of a man who, already having served in a state office, should never be given another opportunity to do so. This is especially so when the position he seeks is one in which he is supposed to be prosecuting law breakers. He is unfit to hold the office of a state attorney general.

Jones has demonstrated it is not just his words that are disconcerting. He was convicted, also in 2022, of reckless driving at a speed of 116 miles per hour on a major highway. While he was given a hefty fine and ordered to serve community service, controversy arose as over half that time was served benefitting his own political action committee, and he somehow avoided jail time. This is obviously a candidate who has stepped over the line more than once, diabolically dreaming of death for political opponents—as well as their children—and showing complete disregard for the law. If he is unwilling to abandon his candidacy, he needs to be held accountable by his party.

When first contacted, Jones apparently issued no apology, unbelievably trying to put the blame on Republicans. His initial response was:

Like all people, I’ve sent text messages that I regret and I believe that violent rhetoric has no place in our politics. Let’s be clear about what is happening in the Attorney General race right now:  Jason Miyares (his opponent) is dropping smears through Trump-controlled media organizations to assault my character and rescue his desperate campaign. This is a strategy that ensures Jason Miyares will continue to be accountable to Donald Trump, not the people of Virginia. This race is about whether Trump can control Virginia or Virginians control Virginia.

No one needs to assault Jones’s character as he has done a good job of it all by himself.

Despite the violence Americans routinely suffer at the hands of the left, there was no official condemnation forthcoming from Democrats, other than its gubernatorial candidate for Virginia governor, Abigail Spanberger. She gave Jones a hand slap, but refused to pull her endorsement of him. We can only wonder why. But we must ask: Why have Democrats failed to pull their endorsement of a candidate exhibiting such hatred?

(See also, “Largest ‘gun safety’ group in US proudly backed Jay Jones, hasn’t yet walked back support in wake of text message scandal” by Olivia Murray.)

It is disturbing that some Democrats condemned Charlie Kirk—the victim of an outrageously violent act—as deservingly being assassinated for allegedly being hateful; meanwhile they remain silent about violent rhetoric against innocent children by one of their own party members.

Last month, a Virginia Republican lawmaker, Del. Geary Higgins, was threatened online after standing up to divisive rhetoric. A Virginia resident,  Patrick Murphy, allegedly threatened him and his children—like Jones did—for doing so. But in this case, local police moved quickly to arrest Murphy. Other than the time element, there is very little to differentiate what Murphy (allegedly) did from what Jones did.

The backlash from the right forced Jones to at least feign responsibility for what he had done, writing, “Reading back those words made [him] sick to [his] stomach.” Calling his fantasy a “grave mistake,” he claimed he had reached out to Gilbert and his family to apologize. He added, “Virginians deserve honest leaders who admit when they are wrong.”

Not only were Jones’s actions wrong, they were completely sick.

Society extracted a heavy price from “Shoeless” Joe Jackson for his criminal action. The same should be done to “brainless” Jay Jones.

Image from Grok.