{"id":2497262,"date":"2025-10-09T21:18:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T01:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/spanberger-refuses-4-times-to-withdraw-jay-jones-endorsement\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T21:20:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T01:20:14","slug":"spanberger-refuses-4-times-to-withdraw-jay-jones-endorsement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/spanberger-refuses-4-times-to-withdraw-jay-jones-endorsement\/","title":{"rendered":"Spanberger Refuses 4 Times To Withdraw Jay Jones Endorsement"},"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\">18<\/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%2Fspanberger-refuses-4-times-to-withdraw-jay-jones-endorsement%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=2497262&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>Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger refused multiple times to withdraw her endorsement of fellow Democrat Jay Jones, who is running for Attorney general, despite his past text messages fantasizing about assassinating a Republican lawmaker and wishing harm on his children. During the state&#8217;s only <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/virginia-lt-gov-says-other-democrats-gave-him-no-due-process-after-sex-assault-allegations-compares-himself-to-emmet-till-george-floyd\/\" title=\"Virginia Lt. Gov. Says Other Democrats Gave Him \u2018No Due Process\u2019 After Sex Assault Allegations, Compares Himself To Emmet Till, George Floyd\">gubernatorial debate<\/a>, Spanberger condemned Jones&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/msnbc-slams-violent-rhetoric-on-the-right-then-argues-president-trump-deserved-to-have-been-drone-bombed\/\" title=\"MSNBC SLAMS Violent Rhetoric on the Right \u2013 Then Argues President Trump Deserved to Have Been Drone Bombed\">violent rhetoric<\/a> but declined to revoke her support, framing political violence as an issue affecting both parties. When pressed by moderators about her knowledge of Jones&#8217; messages and whether she would continue to endorse him, Spanberger avoided a direct answer, emphasizing that voters should decide for themselves. This was not the first time she declined to distance herself from Jones after the controversial messages became public.  <\/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=lu8JfjB8w28\">WFXR 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\/09\/spanberger-refuses-4-times-to-withdraw-endorsement-of-jay-jones-over-assassination-fantasies\/\" 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=Spanberger%20Refuses%204%20Times%20To%20Withdraw%20Endorsement%20Of%20Jay%20Jones%20Over%20Assassination%20Fantasies&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/09\/spanberger-refuses-4-times-to-withdraw-endorsement-of-jay-jones-over-assassination-fantasies\/\" 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=Spanberger%20Refuses%204%20Times%20To%20Withdraw%20Endorsement%20Of%20Jay%20Jones%20Over%20Assassination%20Fantasies&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/09\/spanberger-refuses-4-times-to-withdraw-endorsement-of-jay-jones-over-assassination-fantasies\/\" 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\/09\/spanberger-refuses-4-times-to-withdraw-endorsement-of-jay-jones-over-assassination-fantasies\/\" 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=Spanberger%20Refuses%204%20Times%20To%20Withdraw%20Endorsement%20Of%20Jay%20Jones%20Over%20Assassination%20Fantasies&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/09\/spanberger-refuses-4-times-to-withdraw-endorsement-of-jay-jones-over-assassination-fantasies\/\" 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>Virginia Democrat gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger was given the chance to withdraw her endorsement of Democrat Attorney General candidate Jay Jones over his fantasies about assassinating a Republican lawmaker &mdash; and on multiple occasions, she refused to do so. <\/p>\n<p>The moment came Thursday night during the commonwealth&rsquo;s only <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lu8JfjB8w28\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">gubernatorial debate<\/a> between Spanberger and GOP Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. The discussion quickly broached the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/03\/virginia-dem-ag-candidate-fantasized-about-assassinating-republican-wished-death-on-his-kids\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a> past text messages by Jones, in which he mused about assassinating then-Republican State House Speaker Todd Gilbert and wished death upon his children.<\/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__b89e9-1752746433\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;Gilbert gets two bullets to the head,&rdquo; Jones reportedly wrote in the 2022 messages. &ldquo;Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>One of the debate moderators asked Spanberger if she was &ldquo;aware of [Jones&rsquo;] messages before they were released publicly&rdquo; and if she will &ldquo;continue to endorse Jay Jones as the next attorney general of Virginia.&rdquo; While the former congresswoman said she condemns Jones&rsquo; messages, she refused to pull her support for his candidacy and then tried to pretend that political violence is a primarily &ldquo;both sides&rdquo; issue. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It is important that candidates always denounce violence &hellip; no matter which side of the aisle. Violence, violent rhetoric, we should always be focused and forceful in our denouncement of it,&rdquo; Spanberger said. &ldquo;My opponent, unfortunately, only denounces violence when her side is the target. I hope into the future she will endeavor to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >denounce violent rhetoric<\/a> and violence, no matter who the victim.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The co-moderator followed up with Spanberger, asking again whether she knew of the text messages before their release and if she will still support Jones&rsquo; bid to become Virginia&rsquo;s next attorney general. While the Democrat gubernatorial nominee said she learned of Jones&rsquo; messages when they were publicly reported, she once again refused to withdraw her support from Jones&rsquo; campaign.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;At this point, as we move forward, the voters now have this information &mdash; information that was withheld from them, presumably for political reasons. But the voters now have the information, and it is up to voters to make an individual choice based on this information,&rdquo; Spanberger said. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Mrs. Spanberger, I understand what you&rsquo;re saying about the voters, but for you yourself, do you still continue to endorse Jay Jones? Fifteen seconds, yes or no?&rdquo; the co-moderator asked. <\/p>\n<p>Spanberger replied, &ldquo;We are all running our individual races. I believe my opponent has said that about her lieutenant governor nominee, and it&rsquo;s up to every person to make their own decision. I am running my race to serve Virginia, and that is what I intend to do.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The non-answer prompted the co-moderator to once again ask Spanberger to clarify whether &ldquo;as of now,&rdquo; she&rsquo;s still endorsing Jones for attorney general. And once again, Spanberger refused, repeating her answer about how the decision is up to each individual voter. <\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/if-anyones-destroying-the-judiciarys-legitimacy-its-john-roberts\/\" title=\"If Anyone&#039;s Destroying The Judiciary&#039;s Legitimacy, It&#039;s John Roberts\">incident wasn&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t the first in which Spanberger has refused to pull her endorsement of Jones&rsquo; candidacy. After news of the Democrat AG candidate&rsquo;s messages broke, The Federalist <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/06\/spanberger-hashmi-refuse-to-pull-support-for-dem-ag-candidate-who-mused-about-killing-republican-death-of-his-kids\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reached out<\/a> to the former congresswoman&rsquo;s campaign to ask whether she will continue to back her fellow Democrat. <\/p>\n<p>Much like with her debate responses, Spanberger didn&rsquo;t answer. <\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-american-freedom-convoy-set-to-launch-on-march-1\/\" title=\"Exclusive: \u2018American Freedom Convoy\u2019 Set To Launch On March 1\">state content writer<\/a> 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<\/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\">Shawn Fleetwood<\/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\/ShawnFleetwood\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@ShawnFleetwood<\/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\/shawnfleetwood\/\" 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\/elections\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Elections<\/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\/leftist-violence\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">leftist 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<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/virginia-gubernatorial-election\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Virginia gubernatorial election<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/winsome-earle-sears\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Winsome Earle-Sears<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Virginia Dem Spanberger won&#8217;t withdraw endorsement of Jones<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2497263,"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\/Virginia.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[13348,57355,5894,6722,32249],"class_list":["post-2497262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-endorsement","tag-jay-jones","tag-politics","tag-refusal","tag-spanberger"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Virginia.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2497262","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\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2497262"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2497262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2497266,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2497262\/revisions\/2497266"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2497263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2497262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2497262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2497262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}