Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) denounced Virginia Democratic Attorney General nominee Jay Jones in a social media post Friday after a report revealed Jones wished death on a former state official.
Jones has since apologized, but not before numerous Republican and Democratic Virginia officials called for him to do so. Some have said he should drop out of the race.
“This violent, disgusting rhetoric targeted at an elected official and his children is beyond disqualifying,” Youngkin wrote on X.
Jones reportedly said he would shoot former Republican Virginia House Speaker Dan Gilbert twice rather than shoot dictators Adolf Hitler or Pol Pot. He’s running against Republican incumbent Jason Miyares.
“Jay Jones said that ‘Gilbert gets two bullets to the head’ and then hoped his children would die. Read those words again,” he added.
Youngkin also slammed Democrats running for statewide office for failing to call on him to drop out.
“There is no ‘gosh, I’m sorry’ here. Jones doesn’t have the morality or character to drop out of this race, and his running mates Abigail Spanberger, Ghazala Hashmi, and every elected Democrat in Virginia don’t have the courage to call on him to step away from this campaign in disgrace,” he concluded.
Spanberger, who is running for governor, and Hashmi, the lieutenant governor nominee, both slammed Jones’ actions but didn’t call for him to step out of the race. Spanberger said she spoke with Jones and let him know the “disgust” she held for the texts and told him to “take responsibility” for his words.
Hashmi said in a statement that Jones must “take accountability” for his actions.
Youngkin’s lieutenant governor and Republican gubernatorial nominee, Winsome Earle-Sears, blasted Spanberger for her response.
“Jay Jones literally fantasized about killing a man and two children and Abigail Spanberger still doesn’t have the guts to tell him to drop out,” she posted on X.
It’s unlikely Jones will drop out, because ballots have already been printed and early voting began in the state last month. He apologized for his actions in a second statement after suggesting in a prior release that everyone sends texts they regret.
REPUBLICANS CALL FOR DEMOCRATIC VIRGINIA AG CANDIDATE TO DROP OUT AFTER VIOLENT TEXTS EMERGE
“Reading back those words made me sick to my stomach. I am embarrassed, ashamed, and sorry,” he wrote. “I cannot take back what I said; I can only take full accountability and offer my sincere apology.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Miyares campaign, but did not receive a response.
