OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
6:36 PM – Monday, October 6, 2025
President Donald Trump called on Democrat Virginia attorney general nominee Jay Jones to withdraw from the race after the release of leaked text messages in which Jones made violent remarks about former GOP House Speaker Todd Gilbert, his wife, and children.
Jones is running against incumbent Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares in the upcoming Virginia attorney general election on November 4th. Miyares has served as the state’s attorney general since 2022, and he is a former prosecutor and state legislator. Miyares is known for his conservative stances on crime and immigration, and he has been a vocal critic of Democrat policies on law enforcement.
The texts, first reported over the weekend, date back to 2022 and they appear to show Jones referring to Gilbert in extremely threatening terms, at one point writing that the Republican leader should get “two bullets to the head.”
In the messages, Jones openly expressed his desire to harm then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert, stating that if he had two bullets and could shoot either Gilbert, Adolf Hitler, or Pol Pot, he would choose to shoot Gilbert, writing, “Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.” He also remarked, “If those guys die before me I will go to their funerals to piss on their graves.” Additionally, Jones made highly offensive comments about Gilbert’s family, suggesting that only through personal loss would Gilbert change his political views, and described Gilbert and his wife as an “evil” couple “breeding little fascists.”
Republican Delegate Carrie Coyner, who reportedly received the messages, confirmed their authenticity and said they “reflect a shocking lack of judgment.” She also noted that the Democrat Virginia AG nominee had suggested that if more police officers are murdered — they might reconsider “shooting people.”
Trump condemned the messages on his Truth Social account on Sunday night, calling Jones a “Radical Left Lunatic” while demanding that he “drop out of the race immediately.”
“He’s sick and demented,” Trump wrote. “Virginia deserves far better than someone who talks about murdering a political opponent’s family.”
Other prominent Republicans, including Vice President JD Vance, Governor Glenn Youngkin, and GOP gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears, joined the chorus of condemnation. Earle-Sears described the texts as “beyond disqualifying” and urged Democrats to “show leadership and accountability.”
Soon after, Jones, the son of a prominent civil rights attorney, acknowledged sending the messages and issued a public apology on Monday morning.
“I deeply regret my words and take full responsibility for them,” the AG nominee said in a statement. “They do not reflect who I am today or the values I have upheld in public service. I will continue to make my case to voters and focus on the issues that matter most to Virginians.”
Some Democrats, including congressional candidate Abigail Spanberger, have criticized the rhetoric as “completely unacceptable,” though most party leaders have so far stopped short of urging Jones to drop out.
Republican officials have since highlighted what they deemed as “yet another instance” of Democrats being tolerant of “extremism within their own ranks,” while Democrats have accused the GOP of exploiting a private conversation for political gain.
The controversy comes less than a month before Virginia’s high-stakes 2025 elections, which will determine control of statewide offices and could signal the political direction of a battleground state ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Despite mounting pressure, Jones has indicated he intends to stay in the race, calling the incident “a painful lesson in accountability and forgiveness.”
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