...
By Andrew Stanton
Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
The backlash Democratic Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones has received over his leaked text messages hasn’t stopped him from posting regularly on X—even as each post is met with a wave of ridicule from critics.
Newsweek reached out to Jones’ campaign for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Jones faced significant criticism over a text message he allegedly sent in 2022, when he was a member of the Virginia state legislature, to Republican Delegate Carrie Coyner, which read, “Three people, two bullets Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot Gilbert gets two bullets to the head Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.”
Read More on Politics
The text was referring to former Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates Todd Gilbert, a Republican, according to The National Review, which first reported the texts.
The texts have upended Jones' campaign against GOP incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares, who quickly seized on the texts. The text scandal has also dominated the conversation surrounding the Virginia governor's race where Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears has gained in the polls against Democratic hopeful and former U.S. House lawmaker Abigail Spanberger.
Jones has apologized for the texts—but his social media postings have steered clear of discussing the issue. He has continued posting as normal in recent days as he seeks to move past the scandal and highlight Miyares’ positioning on issues like abortion.
...
What To Know
Jones has posted to X a dozen times since the story about his text messages broke on October 3. He apologized for the texts in an interview with local media but notably did not post about the messages on the social media platform.
His latest posts focus on issues including the ongoing government shutdown that could impact Virginia more than other states due to a high number of federal workers, Miyares’ opposition to abortion and his campaign events across the state.
His most recent post on Tuesday addressed concerns about the high cost of living.
“As the father of two young boys, I know what it’s like to feel the squeeze of grocery prices every week. I’m running for Attorney General to protect families’ pocketbooks from rising costs – whether it’s utility rate hikes or the price of berries,” Jones wrote.
Each of these posts was quickly inundated with more replies pointing to the scandal than likes or shares, a term known as being “ratioed,” which can often signal disagreement or criticism. Many of his latest posts have received 10 times as many replies as likes.
His latest post was like 570 times, reshared 650 times, while it received more than 6,000 replies.
Another instance was an October 13 post in which he sought to tie Miyares to President Donald Trump—who has lost Virginia in all three of his presidential bids—and was liked 980 times and reposted 831 times.
But it received more than 9,000 comments, with many of the top replies referencing his text message scandal.
Yini Zhang, professor of communication at the University of Buffalo, told Newsweek it’s common for candidates to continue posting to “reframe the controversy or divert attention from it.”
“I don’t think Jay Jones will win new supporters by staying active, but maintaining a presence allows him to use his voice and potentially prevent the loss of independent voters,” she said.
The possibility of intensified attacks is a downside of that strategy, Zhang said. But staying silent isn’t an option either, as it could suggest “that an embattled candidate is ceding the conversation and appearing weak,” she added.
Michael Wagner, William T. Evjue Distinguished Chair for the Wisconsin Idea at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Newsweek on Thursday that politicians embroiled in scandal can “can go dark, and try to wait out the media frenzy” or “double down and continue to post the kinds of messages that are consistent with the narrative already being written about them.”
“President Trump often follows the strategy,” he said.
Whether his posting will have any impact on the races in Virginia is difficult to know, he said.
“Research shows that most heavy uses of social media fall into one of two categories,” he said. People who are voracious in their new consumption and people who don't spend much time at all looking for news, but believe that the important stuff will find its way into their social media algorithms.”
Those in the first group are not very persuadable, while those in the second don’t participate in politics in high numbers, he said.
The first group tends not to be very persuadable, and the second group tends to be not very participatory.”
Jones has publicly apologized for the texts and has said he apologized to Gilbert.
“I sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, want to express my remorse and my regret for what happened and what I said,” Jones said in an interview with WRIC, a Richmond-based TV news outlet. “That language has no place in our discourse, and I am so remorseful for what happened.”
But the scandal has still shaken up the race.
Betting odds markets like Kalshi have shifted to giving Miyares the advantage for the first time in the aftermath of the scandal, and other Democrats on the ticket, like Spanberger, have condemned his messages.
Polls previously gave Jones an advantage in the race, but those released after the texts leaked have been more favorable to Miyares.
A Trafalgar Group poll, for instance, showed Miyares up 6 points (49 percent to 43 percent). It surveyed 1,034 likely voters from October 8 to October 10, 2025, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
That’s a reversal from a Trafalgar poll conducted prior to the scandal, which showed James up 4 points (49 percent to 45 percent). That survey was conducted from September 29 to October 1, 2025, among 1,034 likely voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
The election is high stakes for both parties.
Virginia’s off-year races are viewed as critical bellwethers of the electorate’s mood ahead of the midterms. Democrats have been hopeful about their chances in the state—the party outside of the White House typical performs well, and Trump’s approval has dropped since January. Polls have also given them an advantage. But the scandal has injected the race with new uncertainty, as it’s unclear just how much Virginia voters will react.
What People Are Saying
Wagner also told Newsweek: “That said, for low information voters, the first thing they are learning about the candidate is something you would rather they didn't learn. In politics, defining the scope of conflict is essential to winning power and the current definition of the scope of conflict is not in Jones' favor.”
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares told the Washington Times: “Virginians are good and decent people, and they expect their leaders to carry themselves with civility, decorum, and integrity.”
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger wrote in a statement reported by The Richmonder: “After learning of these comments today, I spoke frankly with Jay about my disgust with what he had said and texted. I made clear to Jay that he must fully take responsibility for his words. What I have also made clear is that as a candidate—and as the next Governor over our Commonwealth, I will always condemn violent language in our politics.”
What Happens Next
The election is entering its final stretch, with many voters having already cast their ballots early. Election Day is set for November 4, 2025.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines