Spanberger, Hashmi Refuse To Pull Support For Jay Jones

Virginia’s Democrat candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, Abigail Spanberger and Ghazala Hashmi, are refusing to withdraw their support for Democrat Jay Jones’ attorney general bid after the latter’s comments fantasizing about shooting a Republican lawmaker became public.

The revelation comes after the Friday release of a bombshell National Review report disclosing 2022 text messages Jones sent to a GOP state legislator. As The Federalist’s Breccan Thies summarized, the Democrat now running to serve as Virginia’s chief law enforcement officer mused “about assassinating then-state House Speaker Todd Gilbert, a Republican, and ‘wished’ death upon Gilbert’s children.”

“Jones … presented a hypothetical, according to the outlet, where he had only two bullets and three options to kill people: violent Cambodian dictator Pol Pot, responsible for millions of deaths; Adolf Hitler, another violent dictator responsible for millions of deaths; or Gilbert, a Republican who served in the state House for nearly 20 years,” Thies wrote.

“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.”

Jones also “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 follow-up phone call, “prompting [the GOP state lawmaker] to hang up the phone in disgust,” according to a source cited by National Review.

Jones released a statement on Friday in which he indicated the text messages are authentic. The Virginia Democrat initially said he has sent messages he “regret[s]” and “believe[s] that violent rhetoric has no place in our politics,” but then pivoted to immediately attacking Republicans without apologizing to Gilbert and his family.

Jones later issued a follow-up statement apologizing to the former state House speaker and his family and taking “full responsibility for my actions.”

The grotesque comments prompted Spanberger and Hashmi to issue respective condemnations of Jones. However, both Democrats stopped short of withdrawing their support for Jones’ campaign to become Virginia’s top law enforcement officer.

The Federalist reached out to Spanberger’s campaign to probe whether the former congresswoman plans to pull her support for Jones’ AG bid. The Federalist also asked whether Spanberger voted for Jones when she reportedly cast her early ballot last month, and if so, whether she regrets doing so given his recently unearthed text messages endorsing violence against his political opponents.

The Spanberger campaign did not respond to those queries by deadline.

Meanwhile, Hashmi campaign press secretary Ava Pitruzzello did not answer The Federalist’s similar questions about whether the Democrat lieutenant governor candidate will withdraw her support for Jones or whether she has or plans to vote for Jones this fall. Instead, Pitruzzello provided The Federalist with Hashmi’s Friday statement, in which she said, “I have been very clear that political violence has no place in our country, and I condemn it at every turn. Jay must take accountability for the pain that his words have caused. We must demand better of our leaders and of each other.”

Spanberger and Hashmi’s refusal to rescind their endorsements of Jones is part of a string of Democrats doubling down on their support for his AG campaign. Not long after news of Jones’ text messages went public, the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee issued a statement confirming its plans to continue backing the commonwealth Democrat’s campaign.

“We are lined up, ten toes down, ready to organize, mobilize and deliver voters for Jay and our entire Democratic ticket,” the statement read. “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.”

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood