If you've read Hot Air recently, you've heard about Jay Jones, the #1 answer to the question "would be possible to come up with a worse state attorney-general than Keith Ellison"? Indeed, he's been all over conservative media.
Jones, as they say, has generated some clicks. He's been a godsend for the Winsome Sears campaign:
Brilliant Ad
— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) October 5, 2025
pic.twitter.com/V6SIvANhYY
Sears has called for Johes to get out of the race:
My message to Virginians:
— Winsome Earle-Sears (@winwithwinsome) October 4, 2025
We need leaders at all levels with moral clarity, who can see the difference between right and wrong, not just when it’s pointed out to them.
Jay Jones needs to drop out. Point blank. pic.twitter.com/WwDd1O5unC
As have some of the other usual suspects:
"Democrat Jay Jones should drop out of the Race, IMMEDIATELY."
— The Conservative Alternative (@OldeWorldOrder) October 5, 2025
- Donald J Trump pic.twitter.com/fAPafyJi8W
The Democrat candidate for AG in Virginia has been fantasizing about murdering his political opponents in private messages. I'm sure the people hyperventilating about sombrero memes will join me in calling for this very deranged person to drop out of the race. https://t.co/ZapsWc9VFG
— JD Vance (@JDVance) October 4, 2025
I mean, I'm no expert, but it seems pretty clear-cut to me - as it does to Virginia governor Glenn Younkin:
“This violent, disgusting rhetoric targeted at an elected official and his children is beyond disqualifying,” Youngkin wrote. “Jay Jones said that ‘Gilbert gets two bullets to the head’ and then hoped his children would die. Read those words again.”
He added, “There is no ‘gosh, I’m sorry’ here. Jones doesn’t have the morality or character to drop out of this race, and his running mates Abigail Spanberger, Ghazala Hashmi, and every elected Democrat in Virginia don’t have the courage to call on him to step away from this campaign in disgrace.”
One group conspicuously absent, though, in calling for Jones to get out of the race? Democrats.
Seriously. Do a Google search. Lots of "Repubulicans pouncing" and "seizing", and even a few that deplore all that nasty violent rhetoric. Example: a piece by Virginia Mercury columnist Markus Schmidt that notes Republicans have "seized" on the episode:
Democratic leaders across Virginia responded with near-universal disgust — but stopped short of demanding Jones end his campaign.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., called the comments “appalling” and “inconsistent with the person I’ve known.”
Spanberger, the Democratic nominee for governor, said she was “disgusted” by Jones’s remarks and had spoken directly with him Friday afternoon.
“I made clear to Jay that he must fully take responsibility for his words,” Spanberger said in a statement. “As a candidate — and as the next governor of our commonwealth — I will always condemn violent language in our politics.”
State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, said Jones “must take accountability for the pain that his words have caused.”
And some of the media encouragement seems incredibly...uh, elaborate?
Washington Post editorial board stops short of calling on Jay Jones to withdraw: “Jones has a month to convince voters that his hateful rhetoric does not reflect how he’d behave if elected as attorney general.” pic.twitter.com/ceWTzEwIfS
— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) October 4, 2025
Withdraw? Quite the opposite - one Virginia Democratic Party unit is expressly calling for him to stay in it:
The Virginia Beach Democratic Committee (VBDC) reaffirms its full support of Jay Jones for Attorney General. We are lined up, ten toes down—ready to organize, mobilize, and deliver voters for Jay and our entire Democratic ticket.
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. Virginians deserve a leader who learns, grows, and stands for everyday people—and Jay is that leader.
"Let those without sin cast the first stone"? OK. As one who has never called, publicly or privately, for the death of an adversary, heads-up.
Somd say that Jones's attitude is more a feature than a bug to the modern Democratic Party:
Jay Jones is not going to drop out of the race. Why would he? He knows that the majority of Democrat voters agree with what he said and are happy that he said it. Fantasizing about murdering conservatives and their children is not a scandal on the Left. That's how they all feel.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) October 5, 2025
There was a time I might have thought that point of view was just a tad cynical.
Not so sure anymore.
