Pelosi dodges when asked if Virginia AG candidate who fantasized about shooting Republican should drop out

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., dodged Wednesday when asked if Virginia Democratic attorney general candidate Jay Jones should drop out of his race after his text messages about shooting a Republican lawmaker were leaked.

Pelosi said such a decision was none of her business and that it was up to the voters of Virginia and the state's Democratic lawmakers to decide. 

"I really don't get involved in other people's races," she told CNN's Dana Bash. "It's up to the people in that state. I respect their judgment and wish them well."

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Bash asked Pelosi about the controversy which blew up in recent days following the publication of Jones' private text messages from 2022 that revealed his violent thoughts about the then-Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert.

In an exchange with Virginia Delegate Carrie Coyner, Jones compared Gilbert to two infamous dictators and said that he'd rather shoot Gilbert than the dictators.

"Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, Hitler and Pol Pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head," he wrote to Coyner, who asked him to "Please stop" in response.

"Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know, and he receives both bullets every time," he added.

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Jones has since apologized, calling the remarks "embarrassing and shameful," and said he had reached out personally to Gilbert and his family.

The leak of the texts has sent shockwaves through Virginia's upcoming November election, which features Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, R-Va., facing off against former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., for the governorship.

Though Earle-Sears, Republican AG candidate Jason Miyares and others have called Jones' conduct disqualifying, Pelosi wouldn't go there with Bash. 

When asked if he should drop out, she said, "Well, that's up to the people, the leaders in Virginia - they have said he has apologized. What I understand is, they say that on balance, he's the better person to be attorney general. But that's up to them."

Bash noted Pelosi herself has experience with political violence. Her husband, Paul Pelosi, was brutally assaulted with a hammer in 2022 by David DePape.

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Pelosi said she wished people were as concerned when people threatened to shoot her, saying, "We have to get rid of that kind of language. It's not appropriate."

Bash then asked Pelosi if she thinks Spanberger should call on him to step aside. 

"Well, she has to do what she has to do," she said. "She's going to be governor. She's running very well, everybody's very proud of her candidacy. And her race is her race, and her state is her state, and it's up to her." 

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Pelosi's language about not getting involved in other people's races comes after she played a key role in pressuring President Joe Biden to drop out of the White House race in 2024.