The Party of Political Violence: Barack Obama Crosses a Rubicon

Jay Jones, the Democrat candidate for attorney general in Virginia, made the most bloodcurdling endorsement of political violence I have seen from an elected official—and none other than Barack Obama spent the weekend sidling up to him.

Brief recap: Jones has not denied reports that he sent text messages fantasizing about shooting Todd Gilbert, the Republican former speaker of the House of Delegates. He said he would rather shoot Gilbert twice than kill Adolf Hitler or Pol Pot. He later said he wished Gilbert’s young children would die in their mother’s arms. He sent these messages to a Republican and, when she asked him to stop, he sought to justify these violent thoughts with one sentence:

“Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.”

That’s the key justification for political violence: Our agenda is more important than your life, or in this case, than your children’s lives.

That’s the kind of evil thinking that led to the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and this mentality is growing on the Left.

Jay Jones’ Response

When National Review’s Audrey Fahlberg reached out to Jones to comment, he remained silent. She published the story, and only then did Jones express remorse.

Even then, his statement treated the texts as if they were a youthful indiscretion, not something as recent as August 2022.

“Like all people, I’ve sent text messages that I regret and I believe that violent rhetoric has no place in our politics,” Jones said in a statement on the news.

That’s the kind of apology you expect from someone who made an off-color joke, not someone who had justified wishing his opponent’s children would die.

The attorney general candidate immediately pivoted back into campaign mode, accusing his Republican opponent, Jason Miyares, of “dropping smears through Trump-controlled media organizations to assault my character and rescue his desperate campaign.”

He said this despite admitting the truth of the texts, making the story emphatically not a smear.

Abigail Spanberger’s Pitiful Attempts to Distance Herself

Abigail Spanberger, the Virginia Democrat governor candidate, condemned the texts but dodged questions about whether she would distance herself from Jones.

Spanberger said she was “disgusted” by the remarks. She added, “As a candidate—and as the next governor of our commonwealth—I will always condemn violent language in our politics.”

Yet she repeatedly refused to answer whether she still supports Jones.

Spanberger publicly stated that she had voted for Jones on Sept. 19, before the scandal broke.

Campaign signs across the commonwealth state Jones’ name alongside hers, and they both appear as Democrats on the ballot, so the onus was on Spanberger to equivocally state if she still supports him.

Cat’s Out of the Bag Now

On Saturday, Spanberger held a massive rally in Norfolk, Virginia, featuring none other than former President Barack Obama.

Yet toward the beginning of the rally, Jones himself came on stage to speak.

While Jones had not appeared on the program, he didn’t just smuggle himself onto the stage.

“A proud son of Norfolk, Virginia, please welcome the Democratic nominee for attorney general, Jay Jones!” the announcer declared.

Neither Spanberger nor Obama mentioned Jones in their remarks, according to the Washington Examiner. Yet Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., stood by Jones.

Kaine said he has known Jones since Jones was 11 years old, and he declared, “Jay will be a great attorney general.” (Kaine previously defended Jones, saying the texts were “out of character for him,” and insisting that he would not call for Jones to drop out of the race were he a Republican.)

For his part, Obama called for Virginians to speak out in opposition to violence.

“So, it’s up to us as citizens to stand up for the values we hold dear … even when it’s hard or inconvenient,” Obama said. “If we are opposed to violence against people we disagree with, or who look a certain way, then we have to speak out when those values are violated.”

Obama and Spanberger Own Jones Now

While Spanberger condemned Jones’ texts, Obama has yet to do so. (The Obama Foundation did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment by publication time.)

The onus was already on Spanberger to distance herself further from Jones, but now Obama has thrown himself into the controversy by appearing on the same stage after Jones did.

Jones didn’t just make one statement hinting at support for political violence—he mentioned multiple sorts of violence against his political opponent and doubled down when challenged on them.

As political violence rises on the Left, Democrats need to unequivocally condemn it—as should Republicans. When Politico revealed a Young Republicans’ chat featuring disgusting racist jokes, Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (Spanberger’s opponent) wasted no time in calling for the Young Republicans involved to “step down.”

Political violence is an acid to the foundation of our democratic republic. A civil war becomes feasible when Americans endorse the idea that their preferred policies are more important than the lives of their fellow citizens.

After the assassination of Charlie Kirk, it’s even more important for Democrats to call for civility. Yet even Obama proved more than willing to get on the same stage as Jay Jones.

Perhaps Obama should take his own advice. If he wants to demonstrate his opposition to political violence, he should condemn Jones—“even when it’s hard or inconvenient.”

This article originally appeared at The Daily Signal.