Former Biden adviser Neera Tanden is under fire after dismissing the now-viral text messages from Virginia Democrat Jay Jones — in which he joked about assassinating a Republican lawmaker and his family — as nothing more than a “private conversation.”
Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday morning, just 48 hours after the texts became public, Tanden attempted to downplay the significance of Jones’ remarks. “I think it was a private conversation he had, but still awful and disgusting,” she said. “It should be condemned, but then you should also condemn when the president calls the Democratic Party the ‘party of satan.’”
BONKERS. Neera Tanden excuses Virginia Democrat AG candidate Jay Jones calling for the assassination of a Republican leader and his kids as just merely just a “private conversation.”
Utterly disgraceful. ????
pic.twitter.com/N5KEyFZHPU
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) October 5, 2025
Her comments sparked immediate backlash, especially after Marc Short, former Chief of Staff to Vice President Mike Pence, slammed Democrats for remaining silent on the issue. “This week it came to light that a Democrat candidate for attorney general in the state of Virginia called for the assassination of a political opponent, called for the assassination of that political opponent’s family,” Short said. “And there’s not one national Democrat calling for him to step aside — not one! It’s disgraceful.”
The texts in question were sent by Jones in 2022, when he wrote, “Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, Hitler and Pol Pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.” He also wrote that he would attend Republican funerals to “piss on their graves,” and even suggested House Speaker Todd Gilbert wouldn’t change politically “unless he and his wife had to watch one of their own children die.”
Despite bipartisan shock over the contents of the messages, no major Democrat has called on Jones to drop out of the race — not even after President Trump himself demanded Jones “IMMEDIATELY” resign and gave a full-throated endorsement to Republican incumbent Jason Miyares.
As Short and Tanden clashed on-air, Short continued to hammer the point that the Democrats’ refusal to condemn political violence when it comes from their own side is a dangerous double standard. “The fact that not one Democrat has stood up when he called for a political assassination in this moment of political violence is crazy,” he said.
While Tanden claimed to “condemn” the texts, her attempt to equate them with rhetoric from President Trump — and her insistence that the context of a private message makes them less severe — only fueled further criticism from Republicans and moderates alike. Critics say the party’s silence signals just how deeply the left will tolerate extremism within its own ranks, so long as it serves political interests.
With Trump and other GOP leaders now demanding accountability, the pressure is mounting on national Democrats to finally speak up — or face the growing perception that political violence is only a problem when it comes from the right. (RELATED: Trump Rips Jay Jones Over ‘Sick and Demented’ Texts Suggesting Violence Against Republicans)
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