What did JD Vance say about Jay Jones? Vice president reacts to Young Republican's leaked racist text messages published by Politico 

US Vice President JD Vance recently weighed in on the Young Republican leaders' leaked Telegram messages scandal, which unfurled on October 14, 2025, after Politico published several text messages of Gen Z and Millennial Young Republican leaders sending each other racist and antisemitic messages. The Vice President seemingly brushed off the text messages in a tweet, comparing it to Jay Jones' 2022 text message that saw him call for violence against former State House Speaker Todd Gilbert.

For the uninformed, Jones, a Democrat, is currently running for Attorney General in Virginia. In his X post, JD Vance added a screenshot of one of Jones' alleged text messages, writing that he refused to partake in the "pearl clutching" and dismissing the Young Republican leaders' leaked messages as a "college group chat."

“This is far worse than anything said in a college group chat, and the guy who said it could become the AG of Virginia. I refuse to join the pearl clutching when powerful people call for political violence,” JD Vance said.

In the screenshot of the message, Jones allegedly called for the death of Gilbert's children, writing, "Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy."

On October 3, 2025, National Review broke the news about Jay Jones' alleged messages, which dated back to August 2022. According to the report, Jones allegedly messaged Republican House Delegate Carrie Coyner about then State House Speaker Todd Gilbert, writing that he would shoot Gilbert "every time" if the Speaker was in a room with Adolf Hitler and Cambodian dictator Pol Pot.

"Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, hitler, pol pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head. Spoiler, put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time," the text read.

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JD Vance called for Jay Jones to drop out of the race

Vice President JD Vance called for Jay Jones to withdraw from the election for Virginia's attorney general, scheduled for November 4, 2025, after his 2022 messages were leaked. On October 4, 2025, JD Vance took to X to write:

“I’m sure the people hyperventilating about sombrero memes will join me in calling for this very deranged person to drop out of the race."

For context, the mention of the "sombrero memes" is a reference to Trump posting an AI-generated video of House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries with a fake mustache and sombrero on his Truth Social platform on September 29, 2025.

While the video was heavily criticized for its racist connotations, JD Vance defended the president during an appearance in the briefing room, saying that Trump was "joking" and seemingly "making a little bit of fun at some of the absurdities of the Democrats’ positions."

President Donald Trump speaks with U.S. Vice President JD Vance (L) during a meeting with President of Argentina Javier Milei in the Cabinet Room (Image via Getty)

Meanwhile, Jay Jones apologized for the text messages in a statement obtained by NBC News on October 3, 2025. Jones said he was "embarrassed, ashamed, and sorry" for his remarks, adding that he reached out to Gilbert and his family to directly apologize to them.

"I want to issue my deepest apology to Speaker Gilbert and his family. Reading back those words made me sick to my stomach. I am embarrassed, ashamed, and sorry. 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.”

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Politico's recent exposé about the Young Republican leaders group chat “RESTOREYR WAR ROOM” claimed that the leaders were using racial and homophobic slurs, praising Hitler, and fantasizing about *pe and using gas chambers in the group chat. As of this article, no one has taken credit for the leak.

However, Politico noted that several leaders blamed Gavin Wax for the leak. Peter Giunta, who had sent a message to the group that read, “everyone that votes no is going to the gas chamber," claimed the leak was “a highly-coordinated year-long character assassination led by Gavin Wax and the New York City Young Republican Club.”

Edited by Juhi Marzia