Watch Spanberger desperately try to avoid addressing Jay Jones endorsement

Democratic Virginia gubernatorial nominee and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger refused Thursday evening during a debate to answer a yes-or-no question on whether she will continue to endorse Virginia Democratic Attorney General candidate Jay Jones following the release of his violent text messages.

In October, disturbing text messages from Jones in 2022 resurfaced, including content about wanting to kill a Republican lawmaker. During the only debate against Republican gubernatorial nominee and Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, moderators asked Spanberger point-blank if she was aware of the text messages before the report’s release and whether she would continue to endorse Jones.

“The comments that Jay Jones made are absolutely abhorrent. I denounced them when I learned of them, and I will denounce them every opportunity I get as a mother, as a public servant, as a candidate for governor. I denounce them,” Spanberger said. “And it is important that candidates always denounce violence, no matter which side of the aisle. Violence, violent rhetoric, we should always be focused and forceful in our denouncement of it.”

Earle-Sears then asked the Democratic nominee if she would call on Jones to step down from the race. Spanberger, however, pivoted, and accused Earle-Sears of only denouncing violence “when her side is the target,” and said that the GOP nominee has “routinely referred” to her as her “enemy.”

Wrapping up her 60-second statement, the moderator again pressed Spanberger on whether she would continue to endorse Jones and if she was aware of the text messages, noting that they did not “hear an answer there on the endorsement issue.”

“In fact, it appears that it was those who released the text messages and held them for years,” Spanberger said.

WATCH:

Earle-Sears again jumped in, asking when Spanberger had learned about the text messages and what she had done in response. Moderators asked the GOP nominee to allow Spanberger to speak. The Democratic nominee said she learned about the messages “the day that they came out” and “denounced them as soon” as she became aware of them.

“Importantly, at this point, as we move forward, the voters now have this information, information that was withheld from them, presumably for political reasons. But the voters now have the information, and it is up to voters to make an individual choice based on this information,” Spanberger said.

The moderator asked Spanberger if she would continue to endorse Jones, emphasizing that it was a “yes or no” question.

“I, we are all running our individual races. I believe my opponent has said that about her lieutenant governor nominee. It’s up to every person to make their own decision. I am running my race to serve Virginia. And that is what I intend to do,” Spanberger said.

The text messages from Jones were sent to a former colleague in August 2022, in which he described giving former Republican Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert “two bullets to the head” and urinating on his grave. Following the release of the report, Jones issued a statement taking “full responsibility” for his actions and apologizing to Gilbert and his family, according to ABC8 News.

“Reading back those words made me sick to my stomach. I am embarrassed, ashamed and sorry,” Jones said in a statement to the outlet. “I have reached out to Speaker Gilbert to apologize directly to him, his wife Jennifer and their children. I cannot take back what I said. I can only take full accountability and offer my sincere apology.”

While Spanberger condemned the messages, she has since refused to call for Jones to step down from the state race.

The race between Spanberger and Earle-Sears has tightened in recent months, with October polls conducted by ABC7 News showing Spanberger at 49.2% support, Earle-Sears at 45.2% and 5.6% undecided. In comparison, the outlet’s September poll had Spanberger at 50.3%, Earle-Sears at 43.2% and 6.6% undecided.

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