MSNBC's Joe Scarborough calls for Jay Jones to withdraw from VA AG race

Joe Scarborough on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" said that Jay Jones, the Democrat running for attorney general in the state of Virginia, "should probably be forced to withdraw from the race." Jones was recently revealed to have called for the assassination of former Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert and joked about the killing of Gilbert's family.

In 2022, Jones sent text messages to GOP House Delegate Carrie Coyner, stating, "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." After Coyner asked him to stop, Jones reportedly called her, and "suggested he wished Gilbert’s wife could watch her own child die in her arms so that Gilbert might reconsider his political views, prompting Coyner to hang up the phone in disgust."

When airing a segment about the report on MSNBC's Morning Joe, Scarborough stated that Jones "should probably be forced to withdraw from the race" for attorney general. Despite the text messages and wide condemnation of the messages, the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee has doubled down its support for Jones, saying that they are "lined up, ten toes down, ready to organize, mobilize and deliver voters for Jay and our entire Democratic ticket."

Major Democrats who have endorsed Jones have refrained from pulling their support, and Democrat gubernatorial candidate for Virginia Abigail Spanberger has refused to disavow Jones, only condemning the conduct, but not calling on him to drop out of the race.

Scarborough's comment was shared widely by conservatives, with many saying that his words might be an indicator for Democrats to call on Jones to step out. Commentator Erik Erikson posted, "Joe Scarborough has been pushing Democrats on crime and this sort of stuff. He's a pretty big indicator that the Democrats have gone too far left and they might want to pay attention."

Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet echoed those points, posting to X, "Even MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough calls for Democrat Jay Jones to withdraw from the Virginia AG race: 'He should probably be forced to withdraw from the race, and probably is doing a lot there.' Good for him."