Jones’ remarks about the shooting are not worse than Trump’s comments.

Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) argued that comments made by Virginia Democratic Attorney General nominee Jay Jones regarding the shooting of a Republican lawmaker are “no worse” than statements from President Donald Trump “almost every day.”

When asked if Beyer was referring to Jones, he described Jones’ remarks about a hypothetical situation in which he would shoot former Speaker Todd Gilbert as “terrible,” according to Michael O’Connor of Dogwood News.

Beyer expressed his hope that Jones would “beat” current Virginia Attorney General and Republican nominee Jason Miyares in the upcoming election.

“What about Mr. Jones? Do you have any comments about what’s going on with them?” O’Connor inquired.

Beyer responded, “What Jay said was terrible. It’s no worse than what Donald Trump says almost every day—or what J.D. Vance says—compared to other evil things. Humans make mistakes. I really hope he wins.”

According to a text message obtained by National Review, on August 8, 2022, Jones had complained to Virginia Representative Carrie Coyner (R) about colleagues who were “admiring” a deceased former Democratic congressman while joking about a situation involving a shooting of Gilbert.

Coyner’s spokesperson told Washington Post that following the text messages, Jones and Coyner had a phone conversation where Jones explained his reasoning. After the call, they reportedly texted again, during which Jones mentioned “Gilbert’s children dying in their mother’s arms.”

Since Jones’ text messages came to light, several Republicans, including Vice President J.D. Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), have urged him to withdraw from the race.

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (Republican) also stated that Jones’ comments were “beyond disqualifying.” In a post on X, he described the rhetoric targeting elected officials and their families as “violent and disgusting,” highlighting Jones’ remark about Gilbert and his children.

A recent Trafalgar Group poll of 1,066 general election voters, conducted between October 8 and 10, 2025, found that 48.9% of respondents favored Miyares, while 43.1% supported Jones.