Virginia Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones’s threats toward a Republican colleague have resurfaced just weeks before Election Day. In 2022, Jones “fantasized” about shooting then–House Speaker Todd Gilbert twice and wished death on Gilbert’s children, National Review reported Friday.
“Gilbert gets two bullets to the head,” Jones texted Republican delegate Carrie Coyner during a conversation about political rivals. According to the report, Jones compared Gilbert to “Hitler and Pol Pot,” adding, “Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.”
Jones’s anger reportedly stemmed from how Gilbert and other Republicans eulogized the late Democratic lawmaker Joe Johnson Jr. “If those guys die before me, I will go to their funerals to piss on their graves,” Jones wrote, saying he wanted to “send them out awash in something.” When Coyner objected, Jones “doubled down,” allegedly saying he hoped Gilbert’s wife would “watch her own child die” so her husband would change his political stance.
Coyner later condemned the comments: “Jay Jones wished violence on the children of a colleague and joked about shooting Todd Gilbert. It’s disgusting and unbecoming of any public official.”
The revelations come as Jones faces Republican incumbent Jason Miyares in Virginia’s November 4 election. Records also show Jones was convicted of reckless driving in 2022 after being clocked at 116 mph on a Virginia highway.
