Virginia Democrats have taken up the task of defending attorney general candidate Jay Jones after newly surfaced text messages show Jones fantasizing about murdering Republicans and their children. A group of Democrat committees rushed to Jones’ defense, insisting, “Let those without sin cast the first stone” — as if calling for the murder of an opponent and his children is a common human mistake.
In a newly released 2022 exchange with Republican House Delegate Carrie Coyner, Jones said it would be a “good thing” if his former legislative colleague’s children died.
“Three people, two bullets. [Republican House Speaker Todd] Gilbert, [H]itler, and [P]ol [P]ot. 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,” Jones said in a message. When Coyner pushed back about Jones “[hoping] [J]ennifer Gilbert’s children would die,” Jones confirmed that “Yes,” he was.
“Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy,” Jones continued. Jones also called the Gilberts’ young children “little fascists.”
Instead of repudiating such an egregious display of callousness and violence, at least eight Democrat committees have reportedly doubled down on their support of Jones.
“Recent press may have spotlighted past mistakes. We say, let those without sin cast the first stone. Jay Jones has taken responsibility, apologized, and shown he is committed to serving with integrity and accountability that his public record already shows.”
But the problem with such a defense is that, as Mike Fragoso pointed out on X, “none of Jones’s critics have made a passionate argument that their political opponents deserve to have their kids killed.”
“These VA Dems are telling on themselves by asking ‘who hasn’t?’” Fragoso said.
As Fragoso points out, the problem isn’t just that Democrats are defending the indefensible — it’s that they’re pretending it’s relatable and common — indicating these committees believe it’s normal for Democrats to want to murder their opponents. Framing Jones’ comments as though they’re something any decent, normal person might say in a heated moment is an attempt to normalize political violence. The statement signals that such rhetoric is merely par for the course and understandable.
But this rhetoric is not relatable, it should not be forgivable, and it is not normal. In fact, such language is part of Democrats’ long-running assassination prep campaign that seeks to demonize conservatives and desensitize Americans to political violence.
Treating fantasies about murdering political opponents as normal, forgivable mistakes lowers the threshold for what is considered acceptable in public life, and when that line is crossed metaphorically, it becomes easier to cross it in reality.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2