{"id":2495978,"date":"2025-10-08T07:05:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T11:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ap-says-jay-jones-violent-text-story-is-really-about-gop-seizing\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T07:06:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T11:06:06","slug":"ap-says-jay-jones-violent-text-story-is-really-about-gop-seizing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ap-says-jay-jones-violent-text-story-is-really-about-gop-seizing\/","title":{"rendered":"AP Says Jay Jones Violent Text Story Is Really About GOP &#8216;Seizing&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/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%2Fap-says-jay-jones-violent-text-story-is-really-about-gop-seizing%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=2495978&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 criticizes an Associated Press (AP) report for downplaying and deflecting attention from disturbing remarks made by a Democratic candidate for Virginia attorney general,Jay Jones,who expressed violent fantasies about harming Republicans,including wishing harm on the children of a Republican delegate. Instead of focusing on the moral and ethical implications of jones&#8217;s statements, the AP framed the story around how Republicans seized on the revelations for political gain to influence the governor&#8217;s race. The author argues that the AP and other mainstream media prioritize portraying Republican responses as opportunistic rather than condemning the Democrat&#8217;s violent rhetoric.The article suggests that this media framing minimizes accountability for the Democrat&#8217;s violent rhetoric while casting Republicans&#8217; outrage as merely strategic political attacks.  <\/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=GfsRw_mxWFI\">WTKR News 3\/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\/08\/ap-says-democrat-fetishizing-assassinations-of-republicans-is-actually-a-story-about-gop-pouncing\/\" 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=AP%20Says%20Democrat%20Fetishizing%20Assassinations%20Of%20Republicans%20Is%20Actually%20A%20Story%20About%20GOP%20Pouncing&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/08\/ap-says-democrat-fetishizing-assassinations-of-republicans-is-actually-a-story-about-gop-pouncing\/\" 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=AP%20Says%20Democrat%20Fetishizing%20Assassinations%20Of%20Republicans%20Is%20Actually%20A%20Story%20About%20GOP%20Pouncing&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/08\/ap-says-democrat-fetishizing-assassinations-of-republicans-is-actually-a-story-about-gop-pouncing\/\" 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\/08\/ap-says-democrat-fetishizing-assassinations-of-republicans-is-actually-a-story-about-gop-pouncing\/\" 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=AP%20Says%20Democrat%20Fetishizing%20Assassinations%20Of%20Republicans%20Is%20Actually%20A%20Story%20About%20GOP%20Pouncing&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/08\/ap-says-democrat-fetishizing-assassinations-of-republicans-is-actually-a-story-about-gop-pouncing\/\" 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 Associated Press&rsquo;s (AP) Steve Peoples and Olivia Diaz want readers to know that the Democrat candidate for Virginia attorney general fantasizing about murdering Republicans pales in comparison to the <em>real<\/em> story: Republicans &ldquo;pouncing.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>During a 2022&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/mikedlong5150\/status\/1974207906003267679\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">exchange<\/a>&nbsp;with Republican Delegate Carrie Coyner, Jay Jones said it would be a &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/virginia-dems-back-ag-candidate-jay-jones-despite-sinister-text-messages\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">good thing<\/a>&rdquo; if his former legislative colleague&rsquo;s children died.&nbsp;<\/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__b89e9-721572939\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;Three people, two bullets. [Republican House Speaker Todd] Gilbert, [H]itler, and [P]ol [P]ot. 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 Coyner pushed back about Jones &ldquo;[hoping] [J]ennifer Gilbert&rsquo;s children would die,&rdquo; Jones confirmed that &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; he was.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Only when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/va-dem-ag-candidate-fantasized-about-assassinating-republican\/\" title=\"VA Dem AG Candidate Fantasized About Assassinating Republican\">people feel pain personally<\/a> do they move on policy,&rdquo; Jones continued.&nbsp;Jones also called the Gilberts&rsquo; young children &ldquo;little fascists.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In any sane world, <em>this<\/em> would be the story.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, Peoples and Diaz think the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/spanberger-jay-jones-virginia-democrat-trump-gop-republican-0fd7ae664a91d4a2698b16a97e255794\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>real<\/em> story<\/a> is that &ldquo;Republicans are seizing on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-jay-jones-comments-surface-suggested-a-few-police-officers-dying-would-fix-so-called-police-violence-according-to-witness\/\" title=\"New ... Comments Surface: Suggested &#039;a few&#039; Police Officers Dying Would Fix So-Called Police Violence, According to Witness\">recently unearthed violent rhetoric<\/a> from Virginia&rsquo;s Democratic candidate for attorney general in a push to re-shape the state&rsquo;s governor&rsquo;s race &mdash; and tarnish the Democratic Party nationally &mdash; less than a month before Election Day.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The focus wasn&rsquo;t on what Jones said, but rather how Republicans reacted. Peoples and Diaz describe how &ldquo;President&nbsp;Donald Trump, like Republicans across Virginia, called for Democratic state attorney general candidate Jay Jones to quit the race over the weekend. The Republican president described Jones as a &lsquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >radical left lunatic&#038;rsquo<\/a>; and sought to link him to former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, Virginia&rsquo;s Democratic candidate for governor.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The AP then tried to frame the fallout of this scandal as a campaign challenge rather than a moral and ethical one.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It was too early on Monday to say what impact the evolving situation may have on the high-stakes governor&rsquo;s races, if any, but Democrats privately acknowledged that the scandal is at least an unwelcome distraction, in Virginia and beyond &mdash; especially as Trump escalates his campaign to cast his political opponents as violent extremists,&rdquo; Peoples and Diaz wrote, citing &ldquo;experts&rdquo; who said Jones&rsquo; scandal could &ldquo;boost what has been a lackluster campaign for Republicans.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>For AP and the rest of the corporate media, the problem isn&rsquo;t that a Democrat fantasized about political assassination &mdash; it&rsquo;s that Trump might notice such rhetoric and point out that Democrats have a violence problem. It&rsquo;s not that Republicans are responding to a Democrat&rsquo;s bloodlust, but rather, according to the AP, that they are exploiting the moment.<\/p>\n<p>That, ultimately, is the entire point of this piece of propaganda. The AP&rsquo;s framing isn&rsquo;t about condemning a Democrat candidate&rsquo;s violent rhetoric &mdash; it&rsquo;s about trying to portray Republicans&rsquo; outrage as opportunistic. The scandal itself is an afterthought to the AP. Instead of asking why a major-party nominee fantasized about murdering Republicans and children, the AP tries to cast Republicans as simply milking the story for political gain.<\/p>\n<p>Such a goal was made clear when Peoples and Diaz chose to gloss over Democrat gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger&rsquo;s decision to keep her endorsement of Jones even after giving a half-hearted condemnation of his rhetoric while bemoaning that such condemnation &ldquo;wasn&rsquo;t good enough for Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Only in the AP&rsquo;s world can a Democrat fantasize about murdering Republicans and the scandal somehow belongs to Republicans. <\/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\/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\/assassination-prep-campaign\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">assassination prep campaign<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/associated-press\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Associated Press<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/corporate-media\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">corporate media<\/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\/media\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Media<\/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\/propaganda-press\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">propaganda press<\/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>AP downplays Dem candidate&#8217;s violent rhetoric, blames GOP reaction<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2495979,"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-LATEST-scaled-e1759867771879.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[50842,6203,57355,22897,64802],"class_list":["post-2495978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-ap-2","tag-gop","tag-jay-jones","tag-seizing","tag-violent-text"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/jay-jones-LATEST-scaled-e1759867771879.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495978","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=2495978"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2495982,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495978\/revisions\/2495982"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2495979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2495978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2495978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2495978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}