Jay Jones, a candidate for Virginia state attorney general, is embroiled in a scandal is so far staying in the race. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
The Democrat candidate for Virginia attorney general has canceled a Thursday fundraiser in the wake of his texting scandal, Axios reported.
Jay Jones allegedly sent texts in 2022 joking that he was saving “two bullets” for then-Virginia Speaker of the House Todd Gilbert, a Republican. The texts were reported Friday by the National Review.
The fundraiser was scheduled for Thursday evening at the home of novelist David Baldacci, but the cancellation may indicate the Jones campaign is struggling.
President Donald Trump and other Republicans have pounced on the messages, and his opponent incumbent Jason Miyares has already spent $1.5 million on ads attacking him for the texts.
Top Democrats, including Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., have denounced the texts but haven’t called on Jones to drop out of the race, causing Republicans to allege hypocrisy. Kaine called the texts “indefensible,” but says he’s “still a supporter.” He said, “Jay has apologized,” Axios reported.
“There’s no way [Republicans] can take the moral high ground when they have Donald Trump sitting in the Oval Office,” Lamont Bagby, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia and a state lawmaker, said in an interview with the Washington Post. “Jay Jones will be our candidate, and he will win.”
Trump said over the weekend that Jones should quit the race, calling his comments “SICK and DEMENTED.”
Though, Trump said in 2024 that he wouldn’t mind if someone shot at journalists at his rally.
The Democratic nominee for governor Abigail Spanberger said she talked to Jones about her “disgust” with the texts but has not said if she believes he should stay in the race, the Post reported.
