Warner won’t say if Jay Jones should quit over murder text messages

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., remained silent when asked by Fox News Digital whether Jerrauld “Jay” Jones — his party’s nominee for Commonwealth attorney general — should drop out of the race after texts surfaced describing the murder of Todd Gilbert, then the Virginia House speaker.

Warner, on his way to a closed-door briefing as vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, averted his gaze to an aide who was speaking in his ear as the press converged.

When Warner got off the elevator on the second floor of the Philip Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, he appeared to walk a long way around an open-air looping hallway to the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing room, having spotted the press.

JAY JONES SAID IF MORE POLICE WERE KILLED, IT WOULD REDUCE CIVILIAN SHOOTINGS, VIRGINIA LEGISLATOR SAYS

He was also asked whether he would demand that Jones return a $25,000 donation made to his campaign in August — which Fox News Digital reported earlier Tuesday — and whether Warner regretted the move at this point.

Fox News Digital discovered a joint fundraising page for Jones and Warner on the Democratic Party’s main fundraising platform, ActBlue, as well.

“Senator Warner, do you want Jay Jones to drop out of the race in Virginia? Fox News Digital asked Warner, who continued walking and focused on an aide’s continuing comments.

“Are these comments acceptable? Do you want Jay Jones to quit,” other journalists questioned.

YOUNGKIN SAYS DEMOCRATIC AG CANDIDATE JAY JONES MUST “WATER IN DISGRACE” FOLLOWING TEXTS ABOUT FORMER GOP LEADER

Warner continued walking, rounding the corner of the briefing room, as the entourage passed a U.S. Capitol Police officer before Old Dominion’s senior senator dove into the committee members’ lobby.

Warner’s response, or lack thereof, stands in stark contrast to that of Virginia’s junior senator, Tim Kaine, who told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that he supports the embattled millennial candidate.

“Jay apologized,” Kaine said. “I’ve known Jay Jones for 25 years.”

WATCH: KAINE DEFENDS JONES AMID TEXTS FROM AG CANDIDATE PREDICTING MURDER OF GOP LEADER: ‘ALWAYS A SUPPORTER’

Sen. Mark Warner listens to testimony from 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 out of character for him, and he apologized. I would like other people in public life to sincerely apologize for certain things,” the 2016 Democratic vice-presidential candidate added.

Jones, a former delegate from Norfolk, Virginia, is facing growing calls to withdraw from the race, although with mixed criticism of doing so from Virginia Democratic lawmakers, such as the commonwealth’s U.S. senators.

The texts received by Virginia Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Chester, in 2022 and published in the National Review and Fox News Digital show Jones illustrating the choice between shooting former German Chancellor Adolf Hitler, Cambodian dictator Pol Pot or former Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah.

DEM SENATOR’S BIG DONATION TO DISCLAIMER AG CANDIDATE’S CAMPAIGN COMES BACK TO HAUNT HIM

Gilbert, Jones said, would deserve “both bullets,” implicitly sparing historically bad world leaders.

Jones is also under fire for having logged, without any time records yet revealed, 1,000 hours of community service with the Virginia NAACP and its political action committee.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., speaks at a hearing in Washington on 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.

Officials in New Kent, Virginia, pointed out to Fox News Digital that the straight-arrow nature of this busy stretch of 64 — between I-95 in Richmond and Hampton Roads and Monitor-Merrimac Bridge-Tunnels in Norfolk — results in many speeding tickets.

Fox News Digital reached out to Jones for comment and did not receive a response.

Fox News’ Tyler Olson and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.