Republicans call for Democratic Virginia AG candidate to drop out after violent texts emerge

Published October 3, 2025 10:03pm ET



Republicans have condemned Democratic Virginia Attorney General candidate Jay Jones after text messages emerged in which he talked about shooting a former Virginia House Speaker.

Jones reportedly told a Republican colleague in 2022 that, in a hypothetical scenario, if he were in a room with then-Republican Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert, Adolf Hitler, and Cambodian dictator Pol Pot, and he had two bullets, he would shoot Gilbert twice.

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