By Ashley Brasfield
The legacy press is circling the wagons for Democratic Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones after the release of text messages that could derail his campaign.
Major outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters and Bloomberg have ignored the scandal involving Jones’s disturbing private messages supporting violence, and his use of a reckless driving conviction for political gain. Neither story appears on their websites, and none have published follow-up coverage or reactions from political figures — including President Donald Trump — to the revelations. (RELATED: Trump Speaks Out Against Democratic AG Candidate After Disturbing Text Messages Revealed)
Even CNN downplayed the scandal with a soft headline — “Virginia’s Democratic nominee for attorney general facing pressure over resurfaced text messages” — that omitted any reference to the messages’ contents.
CNN Politics homepage screenshot showing the story headlined “Virginia’s Democratic nominee for attorney general facing pressure over resurfaced text messages” by Eva McKend on October 4, 2025. (Screenshot/CNN)
Axios only offered a brief mention Monday, headlining its piece “GOP unveils 7-figure ad campaign on ‘two bullets’ text by Jay Jones,” but the headline likewise failed to explain what the messages actually said.
Axios homepage screenshot showing the story headlined “GOP unveils 7-figure ad campaign on “two bullets” text by Jay Jones” by Hans Nichols on Oct. 6, 2025. (Screenshot/Axios)
Reports broke Wednesday — a classic October surprise — showing that Jones turned a reckless driving case into political capital by logging community service hours with his own campaign committee, the Richmond Times-Dispatch first reported.
In January 2022, a state trooper clocked Jones driving 116 mph in a 70 mph zone shortly after he left his seat in the Virginia House of Delegates. Court records show his attorney delayed the case four times before securing a “deferred disposition,” letting Jones dodge up to a year in jail by performing community service.
He ultimately paid a $1,500 fine and logged 1,000 hours of service in 2023 — roughly half credited to his political action committee, Meet Our Moment, which is registered with the Virginia Board of Elections but not a nonprofit, and the rest with the NAACP Virginia State Conference.
Republican Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares blasted Jones in a Wednesday post on X, writing, “Instead of taking accountability for his actions, it appears that my opponent submitted a letter to the Court stating that he performed 500 hours of ‘community service’ for his own PAC, which isn’t a charitable organization under state code, to dodge potential jail time.”
Miyares added that Jones’s messages raise “serious, troubling questions about Jay Jones’ judgment, his ability to uphold the law, and, ultimately, his qualifications for Attorney General.”
