President Donald Trump is calling for Jay Jones to step down from race.

FAIRFAX, Va. — President Donald Trump is joining a growing chorus of Republicans and Democrats condemning Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones over resurfaced text messages that appear to fantasize about violence against a former state leader.

The Democratic nominee, who is running against incumbent Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares, apologized after a 2022 exchange surfaced in which he wrote that former House Speaker Todd Gilbert “gets two bullets in the head.” The messages were sent to Republican Del. Carrie Coyner and compared Gilbert to Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot.

“This was a grave mistake,” Jones said in a statement released over the weekend. “I take full responsibility for my words and will work every day to prove to the people of Virginia that I will fight for them as attorney general.” 

Jones gave no indication he plans to withdraw from the race.

The revelation quickly became a political firestorm. Within days, Miyares’ campaign released a new campaign ad highlighting the texts and questioning Jones’s judgment. On Truth Social, Trump blasted the Democrat’s comments and urged him to immediately withdraw from the race, calling Jones a “Radical Left Lunatic.”

“There is so much hate and vile behavior in those texts,” said Fairfax County GOP Chair Katie Gorka. “This is the man who wants to be on top of law enforcement in Virginia, and they just show really poor character.”

Republicans across the state have echoed those sentiments. Miyares’ campaign said the comments reveal “a dangerous mindset unworthy of the Commonwealth’s top law enforcement office.”

But the condemnation hasn’t been limited to one side. Several Democratic leaders, including gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger, said they were disgusted by Jones’s words, though she stopped short of calling for him to step down. Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell also denounced the comments as “deeply inappropriate” and said they do not reflect the values of Virginia Democrats.

“He has a lot to prove,” Surovell told WUSA9. “I was disappointed by the comments I read. It wasn’t the person I know. I didn’t think the statements he made were reflective of those people and they were pretty abhorrent. As public officials, we shouldn’t make jokes or comments about killing people. It’s not something we should do.”

Political observers say the fallout underscores how fast a campaign can be reshaped by past digital exchanges, and how the partisan divide shapes responses to scandal.

“If you think about how the world has changed, things that would have been disqualifying 30 years ago may not be disqualifying today,” said Dr. Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington. “The Democrats obviously want to talk about something else, and Republicans want to talk about nothing else. We’ll see who wins that framing battle moving forward.”

As early voting continues across the state ahead of the November 1 deadline, political strategists say it may be too late to replace a nominee even if pressure mounts.

A debate between Miyares and Jones is still scheduled in Richmond on October 16.