Vice President JD Vance has pointed out disturbing text messages from Virginia Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones, saying they are worse than recently exposed offensive messages from Young Republican leaders. Both scandals have been criticized by people across the political spectrum.
As per The Hill, Vance shared a screenshot on social media platform X showing a text conversation where Jones appeared to say he hoped the children of a former Republican Virginia House speaker would die. The messages suggest Jones thought personal tragedy was needed to push politicians to act on certain policies.
In the exposed text exchange, Jones reportedly wrote, “Yes, I told you this before. Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.” Vance called the messages “far worse than anything said in a college group chat” and pointed out that Jones “could become the AG of Virginia.” The vice president also said he would not pretend to be shocked about the Young Republicans scandal while Jones stayed in the race.
This Comparison Matters Even If Both Situations Are Terrible
The Young Republican messages that Vance talked about were revealed in an investigation that found 2,900 pages of chat logs. The messages had racial and homophobic slurs, references to Black people as monkeys, talk about gas chambers, and comments praising Hitler. The conversations happened over seven months among leaders from New York, Kansas, Arizona and Vermont chapters of the Young Republican National Federation.
The Young Republican National Federation quickly spoke out against the messages and asked for immediate resignations from everyone involved. The group’s board of directors called the language “vile and inexcusable” and said it went against the values their movement stands for. They stressed the need for high standards of integrity and professionalism within their organization. The vice president has previously made controversial statements about democracy and political institutions.
Jones has said sorry for his texts but has not dropped out of the attorney general race. He is set to debate Republican nominee Jason Miyares on Thursday. While Republicans have asked for Jones to leave the race, top Democrats in Virginia have not made the same request. Vance said he refused to join in what he called “pearl clutching when powerful people call for political violence.”
Published: Oct 15, 2025 01:30 pm