RICHMOND, Va. (AP) \u2014 Virginia\u2019s Democratic candidate for attorney general has apologized for widely condemned text messages from 2022 that revealed him suggesting that a prominent Republican get \u201ctwo bullets to the head.\u201d <\/p>\n
The texts put the Democratic challenger, Jay Jones<\/a>, on the defensive in what has been a hard-hitting campaign. Early voting is well underway in Virginia ahead of the November general election. <\/p>\n Jones\u2019 campaign didn\u2019t challenge the accuracy of the texts, first reported by The National Review, and he offered a public apology to Todd Gilbert, the target of the messages. Jones said he took \u201cfull responsibility for my actions.\u201d Gilbert was speaker of Virginia\u2019s House of Delegates at the time of the text messages but is no longer a legislator.<\/p>\n Jones has faced a torrent of bipartisan criticism since the messages surfaced. Jones is challenging Republican incumbent Jason Miyares<\/a> for the job as Virginia\u2019s top prosecutor.<\/p>\n Miyares ripped into Jones on Saturday, questioning his challenger\u2019s fitness for the job.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to be coming from an incredibly dark place to say what you said,\u201d Miyares told reporters. \u201cNot by a stranger. By a colleague. Somebody you had served with. Someone you have worked with.\u201d<\/p>\n Jones and Republican House Delegate Carrie Coyner spoke in a phone conversation following the text exchange, in which Jones described Gilbert\u2019s children dying in the arms of their mother, according to the National Review\u2019s report.<\/p>\n \u201cI have been a prosecutor, and I have been obviously serving as attorney general,\u201d Miyares said. \u201cI have met quietly one-on-one with victims. There is no cry like the cry of a mother that lost her child. None.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Virginia House Republican caucus, contacted on Saturday by The Associated Press, said Gilbert was not commenting on the text messages. Gilbert stepped down as a legislator to become a federal prosecutor this year but resigned a month later.<\/p>\n The revelation about the text messages shook up the campaign and comes as both parties seek advantage in statewide races being closely watched<\/a> for trends heading into next year\u2019s midterm elections, when control of Congress is at stake. And it comes amid an escalating threat of political violence in the country following the shooting deaths of conservative activist Charlie Kirk<\/a> and former Minnesota Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman<\/a> and her husband.<\/p>\n In Virginia, other Democrats running for statewide office didn\u2019t mince words in criticizing Jones.<\/p>\n Abigail Spanberger<\/a>, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, said in a statement Friday that she \u201cspoke frankly with Jay about my disgust with what he had said and texted. I made clear to Jay that he must fully take responsibility for his words.\u201d She vowed to \u201dalways condemn violent language in our politics.\u201d<\/p>\n Ghazala Hashmi<\/a>, the Democrat running for lieutenant governor, said \u201cpolitical violence has no place in our country and I condemn it at every turn.\u201d Hashmi added that \u201cwe must demand better of our leaders and of each other.\u201d Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run separately in Virginia.<\/p>\n The Republican Attorneys General Association said Jones should withdraw from the campaign for his \u201cabhorrent\u201d text messages. The group\u2019s chairman, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, said the messages were unacceptable \u201cfrom someone who wants to represent law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no place for political violence, including joking about it \u2013 especially from an elected official,\u201d Kobach said.<\/p>\n Jones did not hold elected office when he sent the text messages about Gilbert to Coyner, who is seeking reelection in a competitive House district<\/a>. Jones had formerly served as a state legislator, and stepped down<\/a> in 2021.<\/p>\n In his texts, Jones wrote: \u201cThree people two bullets … Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot … Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.\u201d Pol Pot was the leader of the murderous Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.<\/p>\n Conyer replied: \u201cJay … Please stop.\u201d Jones responded: \u201cLol … Ok, ok.\u201d<\/p>\n In his statement Friday, Jones said: \u201cReading back those words made me sick to my stomach. I am embarrassed, ashamed and sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have reached out to Speaker Gilbert to apologize directly to him, his wife Jennifer, and their children,\u201d he added. \u201cI cannot take back what I said; I can only take full accountability and offer my sincere apology.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014\u2014<\/p>\n Schreiner reported from Shelbyville, Kentucky.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RICHMOND, Va. 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