Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) dodged a bullet Wednesday when she was asked a loaded question about whether or not Jay Jones, the Democrat candidate for Virginia attorney general, should drop out of the race because of his text messages saying he wants a Republican to be shot in the head – twice.
“Should he get out of the race?” CNN’s Dana Bash asked the congresswoman point blank during an interview – setting up Pelosi to either defend Jones’ violent rhetoric or call on a fellow Democrat to drop out of a race.
Instead, Rep. Pelosi opted to throw Virginia Democrat Party leaders under the bus – putting it on them to be responsible for supporting either of the two unattractive stances:
CNN: “There is a Democrat running for attorney general who is embroiled in a scandal over text messages in which he, the Democrat, said that the GOP speaker of the House of Delegates should get two bullets to the head for how he paid tribute to a former moderate Democratic lawmaker who died. He has apologized.
“Should he get out of the race?
Rep. Pelosi: “Well, that’s up to the leaders in Virginia. They have said he has apologized. What I understand is they say that, on balance, he is the better person to be Attorney General.
“But, that’s up to them.”
Pelosi was then given a hypothetical: if she were Abigail Spanberger, the Democrat candidate for governor in Virginia, would she call on Jones to drop out of the race?
And, once again, Pelosi refused to take a stand and shifted responsibility to a fellow Democrat:
“It’s up to her.
“I really don’t get involved in other people’s races.”
Pelosi’s handling of the issue was apparently so poor that Republican supporters have begun posting video of her comments in the interview on social media.
CNN: "Jay Jones said that the GOP Speaker should get two bullets in his head... Should he get out of the race?"
— CJ Pearson (@thecjpearson) October 8, 2025
Pelosi: "What I understand is they say, on balance, he is a better person to be Attorney General."
Are you kidding me? pic.twitter.com/8fFXrAMMtC
