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FIRST ON FOX: Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner’s campaign donated tens of thousands of dollars to the campaign of disgraced attorney general candidate Jay Jones as calls grow for Jones to drop out of the race after two bombshell reports about violent comments he previously made.
Mark Warner for US Senate donated $25,000 to Jones’ campaign in August, campaign finance records show.
There is also a joint fundraising page for Jones and Warner on the Democratic Party’s top fundraising platform, ActBlue.
In recent days, it was revealed that Jones compared one of his Republican colleagues, former Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert, to mass murderers Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot, adding that if he was given two bullets, he would use both against the GOP lawmaker to shoot him in the head.
GUN CONTROL GROUP GAVE SIX-FIGURE DONATION TO DEM CANDIDATE WHO FANTASIZED ABOUT SHOOTING GOP LAWMAKER
Dem. Sen. Mark Warner has not called on Virginia AG candidate Jay Jones to drop out of the race. (Maxine Wallace/The Washington Post/Getty Images;AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Jones also said Gilbert and his wife should have to watch his “fascist” children die.
Warner, according to Virginia Mercury, called the Jones texts “appalling” and “inconsistent with the person I’ve known.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Warner’s office inquiring whether he plans to ask for the money to be returned or call on Jones to exit the race but did not receive a response.
Jones apologized for the comment but remains in the race for attorney general.
Additionally, a second report on Monday accused Jones of privately suggesting to a colleague that if more police officers were killed, they would shoot fewer people. Jones has denied making those comments.
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A text message from Jay Jones to Delegate Carrie Coyner. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
Republicans across the nation, including President Donald Trump, have called on Jones to drop out of the race for his comments condoning political violence. So far, no prominent Democrats have rescinded their endorsements.
Warner, vice chair of the Senate Finance Committee, has been a staunch opponent of political violence in recent years, denouncing the January 6 Capitol Hill riots and violent Charlottesville protests on numerous occasions.
“The rise in political violence—which has inflicted tragedy upon the families of Republican activist Charlie Kirk and Minnesota’s House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband Mark, and many other Americans on both sides of the aisle—is disturbing and unacceptable,” Warner said in a September press release, along with fellow Virginia Democrats including Sen. Tim Kaine and Rep. Eugene Vindman.
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Sen. Mark Warner, chairman of the Intel Committee. (Reuters)
“We are unified in our condemnation of these attacks. It is critical to the safety of all Americans and the health of our democracy that we are able to approach our political differences with respect and without resorting to violence.”
Kaine has said that Jones should remain in the race and let voters decide while Vindman doubled down on his support of Jones over the weekend in a post on X.
Warner and other Democrats are starting to face criticism for sticking with Jones.
“Mark Warner has endorsed, donated to, and fundraised with Jay Jones, but won’t say whether he still supports him to be Virginia’s Attorney General after Jones called for the murder of a political opponent and his children,” National Republican Senatorial Committee Regional Press Secretary Samantha Cantrell said in a press release.
“As Americans continue to grapple with Charlie Kirk’s assassination, the answer should be easy. Jay Jones is not fit for office and Mark Warner should rescind his support and call for him to step aside immediately.”
