The hosts of MSNBC’s Morning Joe denounced the texts allegedly sent by Democrat Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones wishing death on a Republican lawmaker and his children, with Joe Scarborough saying he “should probably be forced to withdraw from the race.”
Messages obtained and published by the National Review show Jones writing to Virginia House Delegate Carrie Coyner (R) in 2022, fantasizing about shooting then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R).
After allegedly writing that Gilbert should “get two bullets to the head” over genocidal dictators Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot, Jones added that the Speaker’s “evil little fascist” children should die as well, because “only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.”
Jones apologized in a statement and claimed he had taken “full responsibility” for the texts but continued to reaffirm his commitment to becoming the next state attorney general.
As Morning Joe cohost Mika Brzezinski previewed their upcoming segment on the incident, her husband and fellow cohost Scarborough cut in with, “Yeah, he should probably be forced to withdraw from the race.”
“You know it’s serious when you’ve lost MSNBC,” the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) wrote on X.
During the actual segment, Brzezinski, Jonathan Lemire, and John Heilemann all agreed that Jones’ words were too far.
“In one message, Democrat Jay Jones suggested that top Republicans in the State House of Delegates at the time, Todd Gilbert, get–, I’m not gonna say it,” Brzezinski said, appearing to be uncomfortable with the violent nature of the message. “In another text, he equated Gilbert with Hitler.”
Going on to call the messages “horrible,” she explained that she “didn’t want to read them out loud.”
“Yeah, deeply disturbing messages that have been swiftly condemned across the aisle,” Lemire said. “The Republicans have tried to tie this to the– Congresswoman Spanberger, the gubernatorial candidate. She did very quickly denounce them. But it’s unclear whether this attorney general candidate will stay in the race.”
Lemire continued, “I think there’s a growing sense that he probably should not, we heard President Trump last night. But even some Democratic leaders… have started to say, like, ‘Look, this is inappropriate.’ You can’t, and especially at a time right now with such concern about violent rhetoric and political violence.”
Brzezinski exclaimed, “Who says that!?”
“Yeah, that this is just way beyond the line,” Lemire replied.
Heilemann chimed in, saying the 2022 texts would be “wildly inappropriate under any circumstances — today, tomorrow, 10 years ago, six months ago.”
“I think the pressure is going to be on Spanberger to — and for the whole of the party to ask this candidate to just quit the race. Because just both, it’s the right thing. And also the political splashback, you don’t want to mess with this right now,” he continued, before adding that Jones “should do everyone a favor and step out of that race.”
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