Jay Jones: Biggest Political Story In The Country, But Not In Norfolk.
What was the biggest political story IN AMERICA this weekend? Which Democrat became a household name in just 24 hours? Which Virginia politician was trending on X for two days?
Jay Jones. Jay Jones. Jay Jones.
It began with the blockbuster story broken by the National Review Friday afternoon reporting that Virginia’s Democrat nominee for attorney general sent text messages to a colleague saying he wanted to put two bullets in the head of GOP leader Todd Gilbert. Worse, Jones wanted Gilbert’s children to meet a similar fate and die in their mother’s arms because the Gilberts were “breeding little fascists.”
It was malignant, psychotic, sick and revealed a dangerous dark side to this Norfolk native.
The news rattled the race for Richmond.
Jones grew up in Norfolk. He is the son of two Norfolk judges. You would expect the local newspaper to OWN this story.
There was a time when a team of crack reporters would have been working around the clock to bring readers an expose of what was going on with this violent, erratic candidate. They’d interview his childhood friends, teachers, the neighborhood dogs. There would be main stories, sidebars. Photos.
Not this time.
The local paper, where I once worked, so far has published two front-page yawners: one on Saturday and an AP story on Monday. Both ran below the fold with banal, nothing-to-see-here headlines.
I get it, the paper’s been decimated. Yet I can’t help but imagine how much more energetic the paper would be if this was a murderous Republicans running for attorney general.
Clearly, the paper couldn't ignore the blockbuster story altogether. Instead they blasted it with the boring gun.
Get a load of these hackneyed headlines:
Contrast those limp, lifeless headers with other publications. Including many that are clearly left-leaning yet were able to recognize a big story when they stumbled on one:
It appears the Norfolk editors decided - for some reason - that this was a two-day story and as of this writing (Tuesday night) have not yet told their readers that, according to Del. Carrie Coyner, Jones once said that it would be good if cops were murdered because they might be less likely to shoot people.
That’s kind of a big deal.
So is the fact that Jones hasn’t been seen since Friday night and has scrapped a big fundraiser set for Thursday night.
The man who wants to be Virginia’s top law enforcement officer seems to have a murderous streak and is now in hiding. That deserved second-coming-above-the-fold stories in Jay Jones’ hometown paper.
Cynics might say the local outlet is more interested in protecting a demented Democrat than highlighting this shocking story, which should sink Jay Jones’ campaign and give Republican Jason Miyares a second term.
Yep, I’m a cynic. You?
