RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia's Democratic candidate for attorney general has apologized for widely condemned text messages from 2022 that revealed him suggesting that a prominent Republican get “two bullets to the head.”
The texts put the Democratic challenger, Jay Jones, on the defensive in what has been a hard-hitting campaign. Early voting is well underway in Virginia ahead of the November general election.
Jones' campaign didn't challenge the accuracy of the texts, first reported by The National Review, and he offered a public apology to Todd Gilbert, the target of the messages. Jones said he took “full responsibility for my actions.” Gilbert was speaker of Virginia's House of Delegates at the time of the text messages but is no longer a legislator.
Jones has faced a torrent of bipartisan criticism since the messages surfaced. Jones is challenging Republican incumbent Jason Miyares for the job as Virginia's top prosecutor.
Miyares ripped into Jones on Saturday, questioning his challenger's fitness for the job.
“You have to be coming from an incredibly dark place to say what you said,” Miyares told reporters. “Not by a stranger. By a colleague. Somebody you had served with. Someone you have worked with.”
Jones and Republican House Delegate Carrie Coyner spoke in a phone conversation following the text exchange, in which Jones described Gilbert’s children dying in the arms of their mother, according to the National Review’s report.
“I have been a prosecutor, and I have been obviously serving as attorney general,” Miyares said. “I have met quietly one-on-one with victims. There is no cry like the cry of a mother that lost her child. None.”
A spokesperson for the Virginia House Republican caucus, contacted on Saturday by The Associated Press, said Gilbert was not commenting on the text messages. Gilbert stepped down as a legislator to become a federal prosecutor this year but resigned a month later.
The revelation about the text messages shook up the campaign and comes as both parties seek advantage in statewide races being closely watched for trends heading into next year's midterm elections, when control of Congress is at stake. And it comes amid an escalating threat of political violence in the country following the shooting deaths of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and former Minnesota Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband.
In Virginia, other Democrats running for statewide office didn't mince words in criticizing Jones.
Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, said in a statement Friday that she “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." She vowed to ”always condemn violent language in our politics.”
Ghazala Hashmi, the Democrat running for lieutenant governor, said “political violence has no place in our country and I condemn it at every turn." Hashmi added that "we must demand better of our leaders and of each other.” Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run separately in Virginia.
The Republican Attorneys General Association said Jones should withdraw from the campaign for his “abhorrent” text messages. The group's chairman, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, said the messages were unacceptable "from someone who wants to represent law enforcement.”
“There is no place for political violence, including joking about it – especially from an elected official," Kobach said.
Jones did not hold elected office when he sent the text messages about Gilbert to Coyner, who is seeking reelection in a competitive House district. Jones had formerly served as a state legislator, and stepped down in 2021.
In his texts, Jones wrote: “Three people two bullets ... Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot ... Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.” Pol Pot was the leader of the murderous Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.
Conyer replied: “Jay ... Please stop.” Jones responded: “Lol ... Ok, ok.”
In his statement Friday, Jones said: “Reading back those words made me sick to my stomach. I am embarrassed, ashamed and sorry.”
“I have reached out to Speaker Gilbert to apologize directly to him, his wife Jennifer, and their children," he added. “I cannot take back what I said; I can only take full accountability and offer my sincere apology.”
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Schreiner reported from Shelbyville, Kentucky.
FILE - Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares speaks during an interview at the Office of the Attorney General in Richmond, Va., May 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Ryan M. Kelly, File)
In this screenshot taken from video provided by WRIC News, Democratic candidate for attorney general Jay Jones speaks with an interviewer Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Richmond, Va., about widely condemned text messages he sent in 2022. (WRIC via AP)
PARIS (AP) — Ukraine on Monday signed a letter of intent to buy up to 100 Rafale warplanes from France over the next 10 years, the two leaders said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who signed the document with French President Emmanuel Macron, called it “a historic deal” at a joint news conference at the Elysée presidential palace. The letter states that Ukraine is considering the possibility of buying French defense equipment.
“Firstly, Ukraine will be able to receive 100 Rafale fighter jets (and) very strong French radars — eight air-defense systems SAMP/T, each with six launching systems," he said. "This is a strategic agreement that will work for 10 years, starting next year."
Macron added, “Today we’re moving to a next step.”
He said Monday's agreement includes the acquisition of France's latest-generation jet fighters with full armament, as well as accompanying training and production programs.
The letter of intent also includes the acquisition of drones and drone interceptors, guided bombs and the next-generation SAMP/T ground-to-air systems, with first deliveries expected over the next three years, he added.
The chief of the French defense staff, Air Force Gen. Fabien Mandon, this month told French senators that the European-made SAMP/T that France provided to Ukraine are proving more effective than U.S.-made Patriot batteries against hard-to-hit Russian missiles.
Zelenskyy, on his ninth visit to Paris since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, seeks to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses as the country enters another winter under Russian bombardment of its energy infrastructure and other targets.
On Monday morning, both leaders visited an air base in the Paris outskirts, before heading to the headquarters of a multinational force, dubbed the “coalition of the willing,” that France and Britain have been preparing with more than 30 other nations to police an eventual ceasefire in Ukraine.
French officials say the force could be deployed immediately after a ceasefire and would be stationed away from the front lines in an effort to help dissuade renewed Russian attacks. Russian President Vladimir Putin has so far rejected calls for a ceasefire as his troops make creeping gains on the battlefield.
Zelenskyy wrote on X on Sunday that he looked forward to a “historic deal with France in Paris to strengthen our combat aviation and air defense." He made a stop in Greece on his way to France to sign an agreement to supply Ukraine with U.S. liquefied natural gas.
Last month, Ukraine and Sweden signed an agreement exploring the possibility of Ukraine buying up to 150 Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets over the next decade or more. Ukraine has already received American-made F-16s and French Mirages.
France is among major suppliers of defense assistance to Ukraine, including air defense systems and fighter jets.
According to Mandon, Ukraine needs immediate additional air defenses to fend off attacks by Russia, which on average targets the country with about 1,700 drones per week plus missiles.
“We helped Ukraine by deploying missile and drone interception systems called the SAMP/T system. The Russians adapted the flight profiles of their most advanced missiles because they realized they were being intercepted by Ukrainian defenses. Today, the Patriot system is struggling to intercept them, but the SAMP/T is intercepting them,” Mandon said.
Associated Press writers John Leicester in Paris and Barry Hatton in Kyiv, Ukraine contributed to the report.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025 before a joint press conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, visit the offices of the future international force known as the coalition of the willing, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025 at the Mont Valerien in Suresnes, outside Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool)
French President Emmanuel Macron, right, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shake hands after signing an agreement Monday, Nov. 17, 2025 at the Villacoublay air base near Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool)
French President Emmanuel Macron, right, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sign an agreement Monday, Nov. 17, 2025 at the Villacoublay air base near Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool)
French President Emmanuel Macron, right, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hug after signing an agreement Monday, Nov. 17, 2025 at the Villacoublay air base near Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool)
A Rafale jet fighter is seen before the arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Monday, Nov. 17, 2025 at the Villacoublay air base near Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool)
A Rafale jet fighter, drones and ammunitions are seen before the arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Monday, Nov. 17, 2025 at the Villacoublay air base near Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool)
A Rafale jet fighter is seen before the arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Monday, Nov. 17, 2025 at the Villacoublay air base near Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool)
