Warner silent on whether Jay Jones should drop out over murder texts

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., remained mum on whether his party’s nominee for federal attorney general, Jerrauld “Jay” Jones, would drop out of the race after texts surfaced by Fox News Digital depicting the killing of then-Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert.

As Warner headed to a closed-door briefing as vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, he turned his gaze to an aide speaking into his ear as the press gathered.

When Warner stepped off the elevator on the second floor of the Philip Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, he appeared to have taken the long route around the open-air corridor to reach the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing room after noticing the press.

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As Fox News Digital reported earlier Tuesday, Jones was pressed on whether he would request the return of a $25,000 donation made to his campaign in August and whether Warner regrets the gesture at this point.

Fox News Digital discovered: joint fundraising page And for Jones and Warner, ActBlue is the Democratic Party’s largest fundraising platform.

“Senator Warner, do you want Jay Jones to withdraw from the race in Virginia?” Fox News Digital asked Warner, who continued walking and focused on an aide’s ongoing comments toward him.

Other reporters also asked, “Are these comments acceptable, do you want Jay Jones to leave?” he interjected.

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Warner kept walking, turning the corner towards the briefing room; Meanwhile, the entourage walked past a U.S. Capitol Police officer before the Old Dominion’s senior senator burst into the committee’s members-only foyer.

Warner’s response, or lack thereof, contrasts sharply with Virginia’s junior Sen. Tim Kaine, who told Fox News Digital earlier Tuesday that he stands by the embattled millennial candidate.

“Jay apologized,” Kaine said. “I’ve known Jay Jones for 25 years.”

WATCH: KAINE DEFENDS JONES AMONG AG CANDIDATE’S TEXTS PREDICTING GOP LEADER’S MURDER: ‘STILL SUPPORTIVE’

“I think those statements were out of character, and he apologized — I wish other people in public life would sincerely apologize, too,” the 2016 Democratic vice presidential candidate added.

Jones, a former delegate from Norfolk, Virginia, is facing growing calls to drop out of the race, albeit despite mixed criticism on the issue from Virginia Democratic lawmakers, as well as the state’s U.S. senators.

Virginia Del., R-Chester. Transcripts obtained by Carrie Coyner in 2022 and published on National Review and Fox News Digital show Jones depicting his choice between shooting former German Chancellor Adolf Hitler, Cambodian dictator Pol Pot or former Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah).

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Jones said Gilbert would deserve “both bullets,” implicitly pardoning historically evil world leaders.

Jones is also under fire for logging 1,000 hours of community service with both the Virginia NAACP and its political action committee, before any time records have yet emerged.

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Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., speaks at a hearing in Washington in 2025. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Jones was charged with reckless driving after speeding at 186 mph on Interstate 64 in New Kent County, Virginia.

New Kent, Virginia officials told Fox News Digital that the straight-arrow nature of the heavily trafficked Route 64 between I-95 in Richmond and the Monitor-Merrimac Bridge-Tunnels in Hampton Roads and Norfolk has produced many speeding tickets.

Fox News Digital reached out to Jones for comment but did not receive a response.

Fox News’ Tyler Olson and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.