{"id":2495166,"date":"2025-10-06T11:59:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T15:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dems-endorse-va-candidate-who-fantasized-about-assassination\/"},"modified":"2025-10-06T12:00:38","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T16:00:38","slug":"dems-endorse-va-candidate-who-fantasized-about-assassination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dems-endorse-va-candidate-who-fantasized-about-assassination\/","title":{"rendered":"Dems Endorse VA Candidate Who Fantasized About Assassination"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdems-endorse-va-candidate-who-fantasized-about-assassination%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2495166&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article reports that Jay Jones, the Democratic candidate for Virginia Attorney General, was found in 2022 text messages to have expressed violent and hateful fantasies about assassinating Republicans, including specific threats toward the children of Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert. Despite the severity of these messages, Democratic leaders and committees in Virginia have continued to support Jones. While some, such as gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger and lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Ghazala Hashmi, have condemned his language and called for accountability, they have not withdrawn their endorsements. Local Democratic committees have publicly reaffirmed their backing of Jones, citing forgiveness for past mistakes.The article highlights the controversy surrounding Jones&#8217;s statements in the context of political violence discussions and contrasts Democratic responses to calls for resignations following past political conflicts.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tS6Y5ruUvaU\">WRIC ABC8 News\/ Youtube <\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/06\/dems-wont-yank-endorsements-for-va-candidate-who-fantasized-about-assassination\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Dems%20Won%E2%80%99t%20Yank%20Endorsements%20For%20VA%20Candidate%20Who%20Fantasized%20About%20Assassination&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/06\/dems-wont-yank-endorsements-for-va-candidate-who-fantasized-about-assassination\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=Dems%20Won%E2%80%99t%20Yank%20Endorsements%20For%20VA%20Candidate%20Who%20Fantasized%20About%20Assassination&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/06\/dems-wont-yank-endorsements-for-va-candidate-who-fantasized-about-assassination\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/06\/dems-wont-yank-endorsements-for-va-candidate-who-fantasized-about-assassination\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=Dems%20Won%E2%80%99t%20Yank%20Endorsements%20For%20VA%20Candidate%20Who%20Fantasized%20About%20Assassination&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/06\/dems-wont-yank-endorsements-for-va-candidate-who-fantasized-about-assassination\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>The Democrat candidate for Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones fantasized about murdering Republicans in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-biden-family-is-the-klan-family-and-joe-is-the-imperial-wizard-leo-terrell-rips-bidens-over-hunters-alleged-use-of-n-word\/\" title=\"\u2018The Biden Family Is The Klan Family \u2026 And Joe Is The Imperial Wizard\u2019: Leo Terrell Rips Bidens Over Hunter\u2019s Alleged Use Of N-Word\">newly released text messages<\/a>. Despite the egregious messages &mdash; Democrats are doubling down on their support for Jones. <\/p>\n<p>In a 2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/mikedlong5150\/status\/1974207906003267679\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">exchange<\/a> with Republican House Delegate Carrie Coyner, Jones said it would be a &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/charlamagne-tha-god-worries-harris-doesnt-like-to-explain-herself-needs-to-answer-questions-from-black-people-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Charlamagne tha God worries Harris \u2018doesn\u2019t like\u2019 to explain herself: \u2018Needs to answer questions from black ...\u2019 - Washington Examiner\">good thing&#038;rdquo<\/a>; if the children of his former colleague, Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert, would die.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-576335060\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, Hitler, and Pol Pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head. Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time,&rdquo; Jones said in a message. When pushed back by Coyner about whether Jones was &ldquo;[hoping] Jennifer Gilbert&rsquo;s children would die,&rdquo; Jones confirmed that &ldquo;Yes&rdquo; he was.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Only when <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >people feel pain personally<\/a> do they move on policy.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Jones also called the Gilbert&rsquo;s young children &ldquo;little fascists.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, Jones remains in the race. Notably, Jones is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiascope.com\/jay-jones-is-calling-for-the-norfolk-pd-officers-resignation-if-the-rittenhouse-allegations-are-true\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">same person<\/a> who, in 2021, called for Norfolk, Virginia police lieutenant William Kelly to be fired for donating $25 to Kyle Rittenhouse&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-justice-department-pick-opposed-enforcing-civil-rights-laws-against-blacks\/\" title=\"Biden Justice Department Pick Opposed Enforcing Civil Rights Laws Against Blacks\">legal defense fund<\/a>. Jones said if Kelly did in fact donate to Rittenhouse&rsquo;s fund, he must &ldquo;resign &hellip; immediately.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Despite the disturbing messages, Jones&rsquo;s colleagues have doubled down on their support of him.<\/p>\n<p>Gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger said she &ldquo;spoke frankly with Jay about my disgust with what he had said and texted. I made clear to Jay that he must fully take responsibility for his words,&rdquo; and that she would &ldquo;always condemn violent language in our politics.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Notably, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wtvr.com\/news\/local-news\/rep-spanberger-talks-impeachment-capitol-riot-and-inauguration-security\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Spanberger<\/a> demanded Republicans call on President Donald Trump to resign for what she claims was his involvement in &ldquo;inciting the insurrection&rdquo; on Jan. 6.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It would be preferable if many Republicans, and we&rsquo;ve been asking for this and having conversations related to this, would call on [Trump] to resign as so many did with Richard Nixon after the Watergate scandal came to light,&rdquo; Spanberger said. <\/p>\n<p>Lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Ghazala Hashmi <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/US\/wireStory\/democrat-virginia-attorney-general-race-apologizes-2022-texts-126222308\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> &ldquo;political violence has no place in our country and I condemn it at every turn&rdquo; and <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/gmoomaw\/status\/1974212281316597970\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">that Jones<\/a> &ldquo;must take accountability.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile the Virginia Beach Democrats put out a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/bluevirginia\/status\/1974616667499192690\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">statement<\/a> that &ldquo;reaffirms its full support of Jay Jones&rdquo; despite &ldquo;past mistakes.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Democratic Committees of Virginia&rsquo;s Second Congressional District also doubled down on its &ldquo;full support of Jay Jones.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>A letter <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GarrenShipley\/status\/1974850395177717904\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">signed<\/a> on by the Accomack County Democratic Committee, Chesapeake Democratic Committee, Franklin Democratic Committee, Isle of Wight County Democratic Committee, Northampton County Democratic Committee, Southampton County Democratic Committee, Suffolk Democratic Committee, and Virginia Beach Democratic Committee says: &ldquo;We say, let those without sin cast the first stone.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Brianna Lyman<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/briannalyman2\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@briannalyman2<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/briannalyman\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/abigail-spanberger\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Abigail Spanberger<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/assassination-prep\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Assassination Prep<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/democrats\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Democrats<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Donald Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/jay-jones\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Jay Jones<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/political-violence\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">political violence<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/virginia\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Virginia<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democrat Jay Jones imagined killing Republicans; Dems still back him<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2495167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/jay-jones-scaled-e1759758104256.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[32923,3728,5894,5468],"class_list":["post-2495166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-democratic-party","tag-election","tag-politics","tag-virginia"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/jay-jones-scaled-e1759758104256.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2495166"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2495170,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495166\/revisions\/2495170"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2495167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2495166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2495166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2495166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}