Virginia Democrat attorney general nominee Jay Jones’ violent text messages were front and center on Thursday when he and Republican AG Jason Miyares faced off in their one and only debate.
As my RedState colleague Sister Toldjah reported, Jones’ campaign has been plagued after news broke about texts he sent to a former Republican colleague in the Virginia House of Delegates, Carrie Coyner, in August 2022. The messages included him fantasizing about killing another former GOP colleague, then-Speaker of the House Todd Gilbert, and of Gilbert’s children dying in his wife Jennifer’s arms. Really sick stuff.
READ MORE: Update: Jason Miyares Meets the Moment With Response to Jay Jones Texting Revelations
MORE: It Just Gets Worse for Jay Jones and the Virginia Democrat Party
Jones eventually apologized but has refused to drop out of the race. During their debate at the University of Richmond, Jones brought up the text messages himself and apologized again.
“I am ashamed, I am embarrassed and I am sorry.”
JUST IN: Democratic Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones starts his debate against incumbent Jason Miyares by apologizing for text messages he sent envisioning the murder of a Republican lawmaker and his young “fascist”… pic.twitter.com/7cWGaGyP5a
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 16, 2025
“I am ashamed, I am embarrassed, and I am sorry,” Jones said. “I’m sorry to Speaker Gilbert. I’m sorry to his family. I’m sorry to my family. And I’m sorry to every single Virginian.”
Jason Miyares DIRECTLY confronts Jay Jones over his political violence fan faction:
“The word ‘I’m sorry’ wasn’t even in your statement.”
BOOM. pic.twitter.com/a8nH4Aqikt
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 16, 2025
It was then his opponent’s turn, and to say Miyares brought the receipts against Jones would be putting it mildly.
“And right now you may say that you are sorry, but look at back at what happened,” Miyares said. “You had three years to say you are sorry, Jay, and you didn’t. Three years to actually recognize what you did was horrific. You chose to stay silent.”
“Carrie Coyner called you out then, you doubled down,” he added. “It was after she called you out for these text messages that that is when you said you advocated for violence against children. And when this became public, we now know your first statement wasn’t saying ‘I’m sorry.’ The words ‘I’m sorry’ wasn’t even in your statement. It was to say we all send text messages we regret.”
“You attacked [President Donald Trump] and you attacked me,” Miyares continued.
🔥🔥🔥
Jason Miyares just TORCHED Jay Jones“You say one of the pillars of your public safety platform is protecting children. Were you protecting Jennifer’s children when you said you wanted to see them die in their mother’s arms?” pic.twitter.com/r7uwI6RUOR
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 16, 2025
But he wasn’t done yet, bringing up the fact that the job Jones is running for includes protecting children, which he clearly wasn’t doing, calling for the murder of Gilbert’s children.
“I find it a little bit stunning that today you say one of the pillars of your public safety platform is protecting children. Were you protecting Jennifer’s children when you said you wanted to see them die in their mother’s arms?!” Miyares said.
“How can anybody who’s ever worked in any of the crimes against children, all of the areas of federal and state local law department, how can they ever take you seriously, be the top prosecutor, knowing that you view that children should die to advance a political agenda?” he added.
“It’s unconscionable, and if you were truly ‘sorry,’ you would not be running for this office – because you disqualified yourself,” Miyares continued.
In another clip, the AG candidate said Jones has failed to understand the consequences of his actions.
“He keeps saying that he is sorry. Jay, if you’re really sorry, you wouldn’t be running.”
WATCH: Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares confronts his opponent Jay Jones over text messages the Democrat sent envisioning the murder of a Republican lawmaker pic.twitter.com/IVThd3xaK3
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 16, 2025
“He keeps saying that he is sorry. Jay, if you’re really sorry, you wouldn’t be running. If you really understood the ramifications of what you said about an innocent mom and her children. You know, Todd Gilbert. You served with him. Jennifer would come to the General Assembly. She would bring her children. We would see them run in the hallways. They were two and five years old at the time. This wasn’t a hypothetical. This wasn’t some figure that you know from far away. You actually know Todd. This is a flesh and blood, real husband. Jennifer is a real mom. These are real kids. How in the world could you ever show compassion and comfort a grieving mother that has ever lost a child of violence, because Virginians, there is no cry, like the cry of a mother that has lost her child . A prosecutor knows this because they’ve stood in that courtroom. Jay Jones had never understood this because he’s not a prosecutor, he’s a politician trying to save his career.”
Miyares also exposed Jones’ soft-on-crime record, saying his opponent “is a criminal-first, victim-last politician. We know it from his own voting record.”
Watch:
🚨Virginia AG candidate Jason Miyares EXPOSES Jay Jones’ soft-on-crime record:
“Jay Jones is a criminal first, victim last politician. We know it from his own voting record.” pic.twitter.com/ZJiITL576d
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 16, 2025
Sure seems like Virginians have an easy choice here.
Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
Help us continue to report the truth about the Schumer Shutdown. Use promo code POTUS47 to get 74% off your VIP membership.
