❓WHAT HAPPENED: Virginia’s Democrat attorney general candidate, Jay Jones, appears in a video to actively attempt to kick a small dog outside a polling place on Tuesday, election day.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Jay Jones and the victim, a small dog.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Tuesday, November 4, 2025.
💬KEY QUOTE: “I’ve told you this before. Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.” — Jay Jones
🎯IMPACT: The behavior has reinforced concerns that Jones may be hiding darker, more abusive impulses, as previously illustrated by his threats against former Virginia Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert and his children.
Virginia’s Democrat attorney general candidate, Jay Jones—already facing public backlash for texting fantasies of murdering a Republican lawmaker and his children to a colleague—now appears to have actively attempted to kick a small dog outside a polling place on Tuesday, election day.
In the video, a woman has a small dog on a leash, and the animal is squatting in front of Jones. After the woman leans over to, presumably, pick up the dog’s droppings, Jones bizarrely swings his foot at the dog—appearing to be attempting to kick it out of the way. When this fails, Jones leans over and proceeds to swat at the dog with his hand to shoo it out of his path.
Jay Jones just tried to kick a dog outside a polling place in Virginia.
In fairness, he may have confused it for a small child with Republican parents.pic.twitter.com/k4RMtL5Q9e
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 4, 2025
The behavior has reinforced concerns that Jones may be hiding darker, more abusive impulses, as previously illustrated by his threats against former Virginia Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert and his children. Despite this, former President Barack Obama and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger both campaigned with Jones in Hampton Roads, Virginia, on Saturday.
“Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, hitler [sic], and pol pot [sic]. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head. Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time,” Jones wrote in a 2022 text message to Republican House Delegate Carrie Coyne. In a second text, Jones told Coyne he wished to see Gilbert’s children murdered, arguing: “I’ve told you this before. Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.”
Current Virginia House Speaker Don Scott Jr. (D) has defended Jones, calling him “a good young man who made a huge error.” Jones is 36.
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