Trump calls Virginia AG candidate Jay Jones ‘animal’ over violent texts
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President Donald Trump condemns Virginia Democrats’ attorney general nominee jay jones Describing him as an “animal” on Sunday, he said anyone else would find him “in prison” for his text messages calling for the death of political opponents.
Trump made the comments while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, just days after Jones repeatedly attacked the president at a campaign debate in Virginia last week. Reporters pressed Trump on whether he planned to enter the attorney general contest.
“You mean the animal that wants to kill some of your children and kill someone? You mean the animal that wants to kill someone who shouldn’t be allowed to run for that office?” Trump said when asked about Jones:
“He has a third-rate intelligence, I’ve never seen anyone say he wanted to kill his opponent’s children, he wanted to kill his opponent,” Trump said. “I can’t imagine anyone voting for Jay Jones. Look, you’d think he’d be completely discredited. I don’t think he’d even be allowed to do that; everyone would be thrown in jail for what he said.”
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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press aboard Air Force One on October 19, 2025. The president is returning to Washington, D.C., after spending the weekend at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“He could join the long list of attorneys general who have sued and lost,” Trump added.
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In messages first reported earlier this month, Jones texted Virginia state lawmaker Carrie Coyner in 2022, imagining a scenario in which she would choose to “put two bullets” in the head of then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert and describe Gilbert as worse than dictators Pol Pot and Adolf Hitler.
Jones also referred to Gilbert’s young children as “fascists” in the interview.
Jones later apologized for the text messages and said he was now “embarrassed” by them.
Jay Jones, who is running to become Virginia’s attorney general in 2025, has come under fire for a series of text messages calling for the killing of political opponents. (Maxine Wallace/Washington Post/Getty Images)
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But that controversy didn’t stop leading Virginia Democrats from supporting Jones. Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger endorsed Jones before the debate and has since refused to withdraw her endorsement. The campaign website also still sells Jones-branded products.
The Republican Governors Association, which supports Spanberger’s opponent, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, criticized Spanberger’s campaign for continuing to market Jones-branded products more than a week after texts emerged showing him envisioning the murder of a GOP leader and his children.
Abigail Spanberger has refused to withdraw her support for Jay Jones following the text controversy. (Maxine Wallace/Washington Post/Getty Images)
“Jay Jones threatened to kill his political opponent and his children, and Abigail Spanberger still fully supports him and is trying to make money off of it,” RGA rapid response director Kollin Crompton told Fox News Digital.
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“If Spanberger is willing to put partisan politics above doing the right thing and standing against political violence, how can he be trusted as governor?” Crompton asked.
Fox News’ Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
