Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine (D) called Democratic state attorney general nominee Jay Jones’s recently unearthed violent text messages about former state House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R) “indefensible” but said he still ultimately supports the Democrat.
“Jay has apologized. The statements that he made were indefensible, but I’ve known Jay Jones for 25 years, and I think those statements were not in character,” Kaine, who was previously governor of Virginia, told reporters Wednesday on Capitol Hill.
“I wish other people in public life would sincerely apologize for stuff so, no, I still am a supporter,” he continued.
Kaine went on to call the controversy “a significant challenge” for Jones and urged him to “explain it in ways that Virginia can see who he really is.” However, the senator said he did not think the controversy would affect other Democrats running in Virginia.
The revelation of the text messages sent in 2022 have sent shockwaves throughout Virginia’s political sphere ahead of the commonwealth’s off-year elections in November.
The messages were first reported by National Review and later published by the Republican Attorneys General Association.
“Three people, two bullets,” Jones wrote in a text to House Delegate Carrie Coyner (R) about Gilbert.
“Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot,” Jones wrote. “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,” Jones told Coyner.
Coyner, in response, told Jones, who at the time did not hold an elected office, to stop.
National Review also reported that in a follow-up conversation with Coyner, Jones suggested he wished Gilbert’s wife could see her children die so her husband would reconsider his political views on gun violence.
Democrats inside and outside of Virginia, including Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger, have condemned the text messages, but have stopped short of calling on Jones to drop out.
Republicans, including President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, have called on Jones to end his campaign.
