Vice President Vance said the leaked text messages sent by Virginia Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones are “far worse” than the newly exposed Young Republicans’ chat in which members made comments about gas chambers, slavery and raping their enemies.
“This is far worse than anything said in a college group chat, and the guy who said it could become the AG of Virginia,” Vance said in a post Tuesday on the social platform X.
Vance attached a screenshot of a text conversation in which the Democratic candidate appeared to acknowledge he had hoped the former Republican Virginia House Speaker’s children would die.
“Yes, I told you this before,” Jones purportedly wrote in the chat. “Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.”
Vance said he would not feign outrage over the new revelations about the Young Republicans while Jones remained in the race.
“I refuse to join the pearl clutching when powerful people call for political violence,” he said.
A Politico story exposed 2,900 pages of messages this year between a dozen leaders of the Young Republican National Federation — the GOP’s 15,000-member political organization for Republicans between 18 and 40 years old.
The chats included messages that used racial and homophobic slurs, referred to Black people as monkeys and “the watermelon people,” talked about sending their political opponents to gas chambers and mused about raping their enemies and driving them to suicide. The messages also lauded Republicans who they believed supported slavery, Politico reported.
One message read: “Great. I love Hitler.”
The messages obtained by Politico spanned more than seven months and were part of a chat among Young Republican leaders in New York, Kansas, Arizona and Vermont.
The Young Republican National Federation condemned the messages and called for immediate resignations of all those involved.
“We are appalled by the vile and inexcusable language revealed in the Politico article published today. Such behavior is disgraceful, unbecoming of any Republican, and stands in direct opposition to the values our movement represents,” the Young Republican National Federation’s board of directors said in a Tuesday post on Instagram.
“Those involved must immediately resign from all positions within their state and local Young Republican organizations. We must hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity, respect, and professionalism.”
Jones, who will take part in a debate against Republican nominee Jason Miyares on Thursday, apologized for his texts. He has remained in the race despite calls from Republicans for him to drop out of the race. Top Democrats in the state have declined to call on Jones to exit the race.