Top Dem leaders refuse to call on disgraced AG nominee to drop out of Virginia race

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., stood by Virginia’s embattled Democratic attorney general candidate Jay Jones who sent text messages fantasizing about putting "two bullets" in his Republican rival's head and also suggested his ‘fascist’ children should die as well. 

As Jones faces mounting calls to drop out of his race because of the text scandal, with his GOP opponent going so far as saying he should disqualify himself at a Thursday night debate, Jeffries suggested that Jones already did the right thing by apologizing.

"The attorney general candidate has appropriately apologized for his remarks, and I know his remarks have been condemned across the board by Democrats in the commonwealth [of] Virginia and beyond," said Jeffries, adding, "And that’s the right thing to do."

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Fox News Digital reached out to the office of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to ask whether he also stood by Jones but did not receive a response. 

The Virginia attorney general’s race was rocked by resurfaced text messages sent by Jones to a colleague when he was serving as a state delegate. Jones texted Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Hopewell, in 2022, imagining a scenario where he would choose to kill then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert’s over Pol Pot or Adolf Hitler.

Jones wrote, "Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, Hitler and Pol Pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head." He then added in a subsequent text, "Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time."

Jones also wrote he hoped Gilbert’s children would die. He doubled down in a series of messages, saying that such grief might be "a good thing" if it advanced his politics.

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Despite the graphic nature of these messages, Democrat leaders have largely declined to call on Jones to withdraw from the race. Democratic Party Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger was pressed repeatedly during her own debate last week but declined to do as much. 

During a Thursday night debate, Jones said he was "ashamed" and "embarrassed" of the surfaced text messages from 2022. "And I am sorry. I am sorry to Speaker Gilbert. I am sorry to his family. And I am sorry to every single Virginian," Jones continued during the Thursday night debate with his GOP opponent Jason Miyares. 

However, Jones would not provide a clear answer to questions on whether his judgment should be questioned as a result of the text message scandal and other incidents that have surfaced in the news amid his campaign, such as a reckless driving conviction. 

In addition to the criticism surrounding Jones' violent political rhetoric, he also faced criticism for allegedly attempting to skirt community service requirements handed down by a judge after getting convicted for reckless driving. GOP candidate Miyares blasted Jones Thursday night, arguing he couldn't pass a background check to be a prosecutor in his office, or likely any other Attorney General's office around the country.