Sen. Mark Warner listens to the testimony of President Donald Trump's nominee for Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, not pictured, in January in Washington. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
"I think those statements were not in character, and he has apologized — I wish other people in public life would sincerely apologize for stuff," the 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee added.
Jones, a former delegate from Norfolk, Virginia, faces growing calls to bow out of the race, albeit with only mixed reviews in that regard from Virginia Democratic lawmakers like the commonwealth’s U.S. senators.
Texts received by Virginia Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Chester, in 2022 and released to the National Review and Fox News Digital depict Jones illustrating a choice between shooting former German Chancellor Adolf Hitler, Cambodian dictator Pol Pot or former Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah.
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Gilbert, Jones said, would deserve "both bullets" — implicitly sparing the historically evil world leaders.
Jones is also under fire for logging, without any time logs yet coming to light, 1,000 hours of community service with both the NAACP of Virginia and his political action committee.
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Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., speaks at a hearing in Washington in 2025. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Jones had been charged with reckless driving after speeding at 116 miles per hour on Interstate 64 in New Kent County, Virginia.
New Kent, Virginia, officials noted to Fox News Digital the straight-arrow nature of that heavily trafficked stretch of 64 — between I-95 in Richmond and the Hampton Roads and Monitor-Merrimac Bridge-Tunnels in Norfolk — produces many speeding tickets.
Fox News Digital reached out to Jones for comment and did not receive a reply.
Fox News’ Tyler Olson and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.
Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.
Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mark-warner-silent-when-pressed-whether-jay-jones-should-drop-out-over-violent-texts