Beshear on whether he would vote for Jay Jones: 'That would be a very, very tough one'

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) did not give a clear answer on whether he would vote for Virginia Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones following leaked text messages in which he openly talks about violence directed toward former Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R).

“Would you vote for him if you lived in Virginia?” Beshear, a former attorney general himself, was asked in an interview that aired Wednesday on Fox News’s “Special Report” about Jones.

“It would be a very, very tough one for me to look at. It’s just really wrong, and it bothers me,” the Kentucky governor responded.

Pressure has recently mounted on Jones to exit his race after the text messages were leaked. Multiple Republicans in and out of the Old Dominion have urged Jones to drop out, including President Trump and Vice President Vance. 

The Virginia Republican gubernatorial nominee, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, has rolled out advertising linking her opponent, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) to Jones.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) called Jones’s recently unveiled violent text messages “indefensible” but said he still ultimately backed Jones.

“Jay has apologized. The statements that he made were indefensible, but I’ve known Jay Jones for 25 years, and I think those statements were not in character,” Kaine told reporters Wednesday in Washington.

“I wish other people in public life would sincerely apologize for stuff so, no, I still am a supporter,” he continued.

The Hill has reached out to Jones’s campaign for comment.