Republican Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said on Monday that Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones issued a “fake” apology

In text messages from 2022, former Virginia House Delegate Jay Jones mused about hypothetically shooting then-Republican Speaker of the House of Delegates Todd Gilbert.

Wise County Sheriff Grant Kilgore has joined some Virginia lawmakers and law enforcement members in calling for Jay Jones’ withdrawal from the Virginia Attorney General race following the discovery of alleged texts he sent to a peer,

The violent text messages of Jay Jones, Virginia Democrats' attorney general candidate, represent a broader pattern of political violence among Virginia Democrats.

Recent press may have spotlighted past mistakes,” Virginia Beach Democrats declared in a statement. “We say, let those without sin cast the first stone.”

Jay Jones made the remark about then-House of Delegates Speaker Todd Gilbert in resurfaced text messages from 2022. Jones apologized Friday.

Jay Jones said he was "embarrassed, ashamed, and sorry," but Republicans like Gov. Glenn Youngkin are called for Jones to end his campaign.

What began as a quiet October Friday in Virginia politics erupted into a full-blown national scandal when screenshots of private, three-year old text messages showing Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones fantasizing about shooting then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert and his children were made public.