Sen. Tim Kaine is facing criticism after condemning, then excusing, violent text messages sent by Virginia Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones, reigniting scrutiny over the party’s double standard on political threats. The controversy centers on Tim Kaine Jay Jones comments made after a report revealed Jones’s disturbing messages to a Republican colleague.
According to Semafor journalist Burgess Everett, Kaine said the messages—where Jones joked about putting “two bullets” into the head of a GOP lawmaker—were “indefensible.” Yet Kaine went on to justify Jones’s actions, saying he has “known Jay since he was a teenager” and still supports his campaign for attorney general. “[Jones] is an individual who clearly was really hacked off about something and expressed it in a bad way,” Kaine said. “I do not think this is really who he is.”
The remarks came after National Review published Jones’s 2022 texts to Virginia House Rep. Carrie Coyner (R.), in which he listed Republican leader Todd Gilbert alongside Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot in a “three people, two bullets” scenario. Jones also wrote that he would “go to Republican colleagues’ funerals to piss on their graves” and “send them out awash in something.”
Jones’s violent rhetoric, paired with Kaine’s continued support, has sparked backlash from both parties. Critics say it underscores a troubling tolerance for extremism among Democrats when it comes from within their own ranks.
Jones is running against Republican incumbent Jason Miyares in Virginia’s upcoming attorney general race on November 4.
