by Ben Whedon
Sen. Tim Kaine, R-Va., insisted Wednesday that he continues to support Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones despite the ongoing scandal surrounding his alleged text messages with death fantasies of a political opponent.
“Jay apologized. The statements he made were indefensible, but I have known Jay Jones for 25 years and I think those statements were out of character.” Kaine said– says The Hill. “I would like other people in public life to sincerely apologize for things, so no, I’m still a supporter.”
Jones allegedly created the lyrics to a Democratic state representative regarding then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert, saying he “got two bullets in the head.”
Virginia Fraternal Order of Police called for Jones to leave the attorney general race. Virginia FOP President Ray Clemons said Jones’ alleged text messages “have no place in our society and democracy, especially from an elected official who is running to be Virginia’s top prosecutor.”
Gov. Glenn Youngkin agreed with the fraternal police order. He called Jones “unfit for office.”
“The silence of his running mate Abigail Spanberger is deafening. Does she support his comments that several police officers should die? Who are these people and how can they ask Virginians to vote for them?” He he said.
Spanberger issued a statement last weekaccording to CBS News, stating that she spoke “honestly” with Jones and expressed her disgust towards him over his alleged text messages.
“I have also made clear that as a candidate – and as the next governor of our commonwealth – I will always condemn threatening language in our politics,” Spanberger said.
While she condemned the alleged text messages, she did not call on him to withdraw from the race.
Republicans other than Youngkin have also called on Jones to drop out of the race, though he has so far refused to do so.
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Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is a digital editor Star News Network and contributed to this story.
“Jay Jones” photo by Jay Jones. “Virginia Capitol” cover photo by Doug Kerr. CC BY-SA 2.0.
