During a debate last night, Abigail Spanberger, the Democrat running for governor in Virginia, was given an opportunity to retract her endorsement of fellow Democrat Jay Jones, the attorney general candidate who has come under fire over his violent texts about a Republican colleague and his children. She refused to do so.
Spanberger tried to kick the can down the road, saying it’s now up to voters. To the debate moderator’s credit, she pressed her on the issue, but Spanberger would not provide a simple response and did not withdraw her support for Jones.
Politico reports:
Spanberger and Earle-Sears tussle over violent political rhetoric in only debateDemocrat Abigail Spanberger passed on a chance to use one of the most high-profile moments of her run for Virginia governor to withdraw her endorsement for her party’s attorney general nominee for his use of violent rhetoric in a text message.The subject of Jay Jones’ violent message from three years ago emerged immediately as the Democrat faced Republican Winsome Earle-Sears on Thursday in the only planned debate of the closely watched race.Spanberger condemned the text as “abhorrent” but repeatedly declined to say whether she would withdraw her support for Jones, saying it should be left to the voters in the Nov. 5 election.“The voters now have the information, and it is up to voters to make an individual choice based on this information,” she said.Jones suggested the former Republican House speaker should get “two bullets to the head.” He has apologized for the text, which became public last week amid rising fears of political violence following a string of incidents, including the killing of Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10 and the attack on Minnesota lawmakers in June.
Watch this:
The country has changed and Democrats refuse to acknowledge this fact. In a little over a year, Charlie Kirk was assassinated and there were two attempts on Trump’s life. We are not putting up with the violent rhetoric anymore. Spanberger’s response wasn’t even close to appropriate.
In another moment from the debate, Spanberger refused to clearly answer when asked about men and boys in girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms. Republican Winsome Sears has been hammering Spanberger on this issue and this is why. Watch:
This race has been tightening for weeks, but I expect this debate to change the dynamic of the race. Winsome Sears seemed more prepared and appeared more solid as a candidate.
Featured image via Twitter/X video.
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