Political Discourse: Is it beyond repair after the controversy surrounding AG nominee Jay Jones?

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — 8News is asking whether political discourse has gone too far after Attorney General nominee Jay Jones found himself in controversy over leaked text messages.

The text messages, first shared by the National Review on Friday, Oct. 3, were sent to Carrie Coyner (R-Chesterfield) in August 2022.

Jones’ messages described a hypothetical scenario where former House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) would be shot instead of the violent historical dictators Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot. Jones also wished violence on Gilbert’s children.

Political leaders chimed in and called for Jones to drop out of the race, including President Trump condemned Jones’ words in a post on social media, calling them “sick and demented.”

But do voters feel the same?

According to the 8News ‘Speakup Poll’ on Monday Oct. 7, 45% of viewers said that what a candidate says influences how they vote. However, 11% disagreed and 44% say it depends on the situation.

Randolph-Macon political science professor Rich Meagher said it may be part of a new reality.

“It's just very little that you can say that automatically removes you from consideration for political office,” Meagher said. “Ten years ago, [Jones’s] kind of text messaging would be disqualifying, post-Trump, I don't think that a lot of people feel that way.”

Meagher alluded to the climate of political discourse changing when Trump came into office.

“When our president says lots of outrageous things, and seems to suffer no consequences from it, I do think it's just a lot harder to say, as Republicans are saying now, ‘Well, Jones said a bad thing and he should step down.’ It just doesn't seem like that's the rule anymore.” Meagher said.

Meagher did say there are efforts to turn the temperature down and bring civil language back to the forefront.

“I see some encouraging signs of that on college campuses, but it's going to be a really long road and I don't think that this Jay Jones incident is going to help in the short term for sure,” Meagher said.