Jay Jones is the current Democratic Party candidate for attorney general for the Commonwealth of Virginia. His candidacy has become a national scandal since it was revealed that he, through texts to and a phone conversation with Virginia Republican state legislator Carrie Coyner in 2022, said horrific things about Todd Gilbert, then the Republican speaker of the Virginia House of Representatives.

Among Jones’ appalling statements were that if he had only two bullets, and had the choice to kill Gilbert, Adolf Hitler and/or Cambodian mass murderer Pol Pot, he would put both bullets in Gilbert’s head. Jones said, “Put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.”

But that wasn’t enough. Jones also suggested that Todd’s children (then aged 5 and 2) should be killed, and that Todd’s wife, Jennifer, should have to watch her children die in her arms. Jones justified his views, accusing Todd and Jennifer Gilbert of being “evil” and of “breeding little fascists.” He further elaborated to Coyner, “I’ve told you this before. Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.”

Keep in mind, this man is running to be the highest-ranking law enforcement officer in the state.

Even if one assumes that Jones would not actually put a bullet in the brain of a political opponent, it is reasonable to ask what he would do if someone else did. What will his approach to law enforcement be? Americans are already outraged by the treatment of criminals by prosecutors and judges whose “progressive” views make them soft on crime and impervious to the damage criminals inflict on innocent, law-abiding citizens.

Just a few examples: In Milwaukee in 2021, Darrell Brooks Jr. was released on $1,000 bond after trying to run over the mother of his child with his car; less than a week later, he plowed that car into a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, killing six and critically injuring dozens. In North Carolina, Decarlos Brown had a history of serious mental illness and had been arrested 14 times, but Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes let him loose; on Aug. 22, he stabbed Iryna Zarutska in the neck on a Charlotte train, killing her. On Dec. 7, 2015, Ronald Exantus broke into a house in Versailles, Kentucky, and stabbed four members of the Tipton family, killing 6-year-old Logan. Exantus was acquitted of Logan’s murder on grounds of insanity, and was just released from prison after only seven years because of “good behavior.”

Is this the kind of “justice” Virginians can expect from an attorney general who so cavalierly wishes death upon those with whom he disagrees?

In the not-too-distant past, statements like the ones Jones made would produce bipartisan calls for his withdrawal from the political race.

Not anymore.

Not a single notable Democrat at either the state or national level has demanded that Jones exit the race: not Democrat gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger (who is running around the state telling her constituents, “Let your rage fuel you.”) Not either of Virginia’s two Democratic U.S. senators, Tim Kaine or Mark Warner. Not U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer or House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

To the contrary, Democrats in Virginia and elsewhere are expressly standing behind Jones. The current speaker of the Virginia House of Representatives characterized Jones’ texts as a “distraction.” The Virginia Beach Democratic Committee invoked the Bible, dismissing Jones’ remarks by saying, “Let those without sin cast the first stone.”