Virginia Attorney General Isn’t Buying ‘Fake’ Apology From Opponent Who Wished Death On His Political Rival

Republican Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said on Monday that Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones issued a “fake” apology for wishing death on his political opponent and his children.

Jones issued an apology on Saturday after a text message chain from August 2022 revealed that he openly fantasized about shooting then-Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert and wished violence on his children, stating that he is “embarrassed” and “ashamed” by his previous comments. Miyares said on “America’s Newsroom” that Jones had no remorse for his previous comments and lacked the temperament to serve as the states’ next attorney general.

“Listen, my job as the attorney general, as the top prosecutor in the state of Virginia, your job is to stop violence. I can’t imagine somebody running for this office that has actually advocated for violence,” Miyares said. “Not just against a colleague, somebody that he’s worked with. But it gets children. He literally, in their text messages that have been posted online, when he was called out for his rhetoric, he actually, instead of apologizing, doubled down and when you said ‘you literally want Jennifer Gilbert’s children to die in her arms,’ he said ‘yes. That only through pain does change happen.’ Think about that mindset, politics aside, that is an incredibly dark place you have to be coming from to wish [for] the death of small children, by the way, who he has met.”

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Jones made these remarks while texting Republican Virginia Del. Carrie Coyner, who shared the conversation with The National Review. After she had told Jones to stop wishing violence on people, Jones stated that policymakers only make change happen when they are inflicted with pain themselves, according to The National Review. At one point, he suggested that Gilbert’s wife hold her dead children in her arms to pressure Gilbert to change his mind on gun violence.

Jones stated that he takes “full accountability” for his remarks and apologized to Gilbert’s family.

“Reading back those words made me sick to my stomach. I am embarrassed, ashamed, and sorry,” Jones said. “I cannot take back what I said; I can only take full accountability and offer my sincere apology.”

Miyares warned that Jones’ leadership would lack basic “civility” and “decency,” and stated that his apology is completely insincere.

“I think his apology is fake,” Miyares continued. “Because he was called out at the time when he texted this to a colleague. [She] said, ‘this is not appropriate’ and he doubled down on it. He is apologizing, he’s trying to save his political career because he is a politician, he is not a prosecutor. Because I can tell you right now, Dana, I’ve met with victims. As a prosecutor, I’ve actually had to sit through the autopsy of a minor child that died of a gunshot wound. I can’t imagine if you meet a mother who lost her child, I’ll tell you this. There is no cry like the cry of a mother that has lost her child. None.”

“To just so callously advocate for this, to murder children of a political rival means he is wholly disqualified for this office. Because when I took this office, I swore an oath not to a political party, but to protect all Virginians. Republicans, Democrats and independents,” the attorney general added. “I cannot imagine someone seeking this office and the responsibilities that come to this office being the top prosecutor that a) has never prosecuted a case in his life, clearly has never met with victims and then advocating for the death of children. He is solely disqualified in my opinion of serving as the attorney general of Virginia and I think that the voters are going to disqualify him as well.”

Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said that Jones’ comments are “beyond disqualifying” for an attorney general.