Dem AG nom Jay Jones claims he will defend 'freedom,' 'needs of Virginians' after wishing death on GOP colleague

Democrat nominee for attorney general in Virigina Jay Jones has come out to say that the "stakes couldn't be higher" in the election between him and GOP incumbent AG Jason Miyares. He claimed that he will defend democracy and prioritize "the needs of Virginians" as opposed to a candidate who "takes directives from Donald Trump." This comes after it was revealed he called for the killing of GOP politician Todd Gilbert and argued for the death of Gilbert's children so that the politician would change on gun policy.

Jones posted to X, "This race will decide whether we have an Attorney General who defends our freedoms, protects our democracy, and prioritizes the needs of Virginians – or one who takes directives from Donald Trump. The stakes couldn’t be higher."

The post was met with heavy backlash in the comments, with account Still Boneless posting a meme with a picture of Jones saying, "I [heart emoji] murdering children," with a screenshot from a text between Jones and a colleague. The colleague had stated, "You were talking about hopping (sic) jennifer Gilbert's children would die."

Jones responded in the chat, "Yes, I've told you this before. Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy."

Will Chamberlain commented, "You’re quite right - the stakes couldn’t be higher for Virginia conservatives. Because you want them dead."

Many comments referred to the "ratio" on Jones' post, pointing out that many more appeared to be dunking on his post instead of supporting it with likes. There were around 6,000 comments but only 579 likes on the post as of Tuesday afternoon.

Trump advisor Stephen Miller shared the post on X, responding with, "You said you wanted to murder children."

Winsome Earle-Sears, who is the GOP nominee running for governor in Virginia, simply wrote, "Drop out," in response to Jones.

A poll taken after the comments from Jones were revealed shows Jones trailing behind Miyares 43.1 percent to 48.9 percent, respectively. The polls have also tightened in the governor's race after Sears' debate with Democrat nominee for Virginia governor, Rep. Abigail Spanberger. The Democrat congresswoman refused to reverse her endorsement and support of Jones while she was on stage with Sears last Thursday after repeated questioning by the moderators.