Jay Jones Says He’s Sorry For Vile Texts, Then Blames Trump

It’s a good thing “Two Bullets” Jay Jones isn’t applying for a line prosecutor position in an attorney general’s office. As Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has said, Jones wouldn’t pass a background check. 

But Jones, a former Virginia state delegate, isn’t applying for a line prosecutor position. He’s applying to replace Republican incumbent AG Miyares. The commonwealth’s voters in a couple of weeks, however, will determine if Jones’ vile text messages — in which he fantasized about putting “two bullets” in the head of a Republican politician he loathed — pass their background check. 

‘I Am Ashamed,’ but It’s Trump

At a debate Thursday evening between the two candidates, Jones had to again face the violent messages that some of his fellow Democrats have called indefensible and many Virginians have said are disqualifying. Jones gave another political mea culpa, telling the packed house at the University of Richmond who he believes the real culprit is: Donald Trump. 

“Let me be very clear: I am ashamed. I am embarrassed. And I am sorry,” the leftist AG candidate said. His apology sounded as sincere as the standard politician who is sorry — for being caught. 

Jones quickly pivoted to a long list of complaints about President Donald Trump, attempting to tie Miyares to the hip of the commander-in-chief and his policies. Jones, who is dealing with more unearthed skeletons than his 2022 text fantasies of murdering the children of former Virginia Speaker of the House Todd Gilbert, urged voters to remember that “the stakes of this race are too high” to consider his psychotic messages. 

Jones warned that if he is not elected there will be no one in the attorney general’s office to lead an endless lawfare campaign against the left’s Public Enemy No. 1 and his administration. 

“When Donald Trump fires [federal] workers, defunds our schools, and levies tariffs that destroy our regional economies, sends armed troops into cities, and defunds law enforcment, he has a willing cheerleader here in Jason Miyares, who will not step up to sue,” Miyares said, promising Virginia and the world that he would be a reliable foot soldier in the Democratic Party’s war on Trump and a political agenda that much of America voted for. 

‘I Made Grave Mistakes,’ but Trump

Debate moderator, K. Brett Marston, president of the Virginia State Bar, asked Jones how he would explain his past violent comments and actions to voters who “expect restraint, professionalism, and accountability from the state’s top law enforcement officer.” 

“And why should they trust your judgment moving forward?” Marston asked. 

Donald Trump, Jones responded. Besides, the candidate said, he’s been held accountable for his past indiscretions, including a reckless driving charge for which he seems to have gotten a politician’s discount.

“Several years ago I made very grave mistakes, but I was held accountable, not just by the people in my party but by the Virginia State Police, where I … completed a very rigorous driver improvement course, paid a substantial fine, and completed the terms of community service outlined,” Jones said. 

Yeah, right, Miyares shot back. He added a few important omitted facts. Miyares said Jones was arrested for going 116 miles an hour. While others in court that day charged with similar crimes received suspended licenses or active jail sentences, Jones asked the court and got community service. 

“We now know he misled the court,” Miyares said. As reports note, Jones served “community service” not to a charitable organization, but to his own political action committee. Just what community service he provided to his PAC remains unclear. 

But Trump, the Democrat said. As attorney general, Miyares hasn’t held the president accountable, Jones insisted, adding that the AG could have sued Trump 50 times so far in the first nine months of the president’s second term. That’s a lot of suing. Voters, in fact, rejected the left’s onslaught of lawfare in the November 2024 election. 

‘I Am Sorry,’ but Trump

Miyares wasn’t buying his opponent’s sorry, an apology that he said has come much too late for political reasons. 

“Right now you may say that you are sorry, but look back at what happened. You had three years to say you’re sorry, Jay, and you didn’t,” the attorney general said. 

What he did say in a series of inexcusable text messages to a GOP state lawmaker is how he would shoot Gilbert in the head given the choice between the House Speaker at the time and two of the worst murderous despots in history — Adolf Hitler and Cambodian dictator Pol Pot.  

“Gilbert gets two bullets to the head,” Jones wrote in the text messages. “Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.”

He later “suggested he wished Gilbert’s wife could watch her own child die in her arms so that Gilbert might reconsider his political views” in a phone call with the GOP lawmaker, who hung up on Jones, according to a source cited by National Review. The news outlet first reported on the violent texts. 

The AG candidate also reportedly suggested that if more police officers were killed maybe they wouldn’t shoot so many people. 

“Well, maybe if a few of them died, that they would move on, not shooting people, not killing people,” Jones said, according to Republican Del. Carrie Coyner, the recipient of Jones’ tirades. 

Jones now knows that kind of talk isn’t appropriate and can be quite damaging to a campaign for Virginia’s top law enforcement officer. Wanting cops dead to prove a political point is not a good look for someone applying for such a position. 

Jones says he’s sorry. 

“I am sorry to Speaker Gilbert. I am sorry to his family. I am sorry to my family, and I am sorry to every single Virginian,” Jones said. “I cannot take back what I said, but you have my word that I will always be accountable for my mistakes.” 

But Trump …  

Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.