Barack Obama spent years positioning himself as the voice of civility in American politics.
He preached unity and condemned heated rhetoric at every opportunity.
But Obama made one shocking move on Election Day Eve that has conservatives sickened.
Obama headlines rally for murder-texting Democrat candidate
Former President Barack Obama headlined a Norfolk, Virginia rally on Saturday for Democrat gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger and the state's entire ticket.¹
The crowd cheered as Obama took the stage to deliver his standard lecture about civility and respectful disagreement.
But one person sharing that stage made the whole event a stunning display of Democrat Party moral rot.
Attorney general candidate Jay Jones — the same Jay Jones who texted about putting "two bullets to the head" of Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert and killing his children — stood alongside Obama at the rally.²
Jones envisioned a scenario where Gilbert's wife would watch their 2-year-old and 5-year-old children die in her arms as motivation for gun control legislation.³
The texts compared Gilbert to Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot, saying Gilbert would "receive both bullets every time."⁴
Obama notably refused to mention Jones by name during his speech, instead delivering platitudes about how Americans should "disagree without calling each other nasty names or demonizing each other."⁵
The irony was lost on exactly no one watching.
Republicans slam Obama for embracing political violence
Florida political journalist Eric Daugherty captured what millions of conservatives were thinking.
"They endorse killing us," Daugherty said of Obama's appearance with Jones.⁶
"In a disgusting sight, Virginia AG candidate Jay Jones — who called for the murder of Republicans and their children — is being cheered at a Barack Hussein Obama rally with gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger," Daugherty added.⁷
Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, who emigrated from Jamaica, didn't hold back during an interview with Fox News' Steve Doocy.
"I'm from a country where I saw political violence, where I see political gangs shooting people and shooting each other when I was 10 years old," Earle-Sears explained. "And to think that that's what I'm seeing in America today, it is absolutely crazy."⁸
Governor Glenn Youngkin called the spectacle "a great representation of the far-left's embrace of violence."⁹
"I cannot believe that Jay Jones was there, but Abigail Spanberger is for him, Barack Obama is for him," Youngkin said at a Purcellville campaign stop.¹⁰
Youngkin separately called Jones "demented" and wrote that any remaining moral clarity in the Democrat Party was "laid bare."¹¹
"Virginians clearly saw [during the rally] that violence and murder are just fine with them," Youngkin stated. "Those may be their values, but they aren't Virginia values."¹²
Obama's civility lectures ring hollow after embracing Jones
Obama built his post-presidency persona around calling for more civil political discourse.
After the 2011 Tucson shooting that wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Obama urged Americans to "sharpen our instincts for empathy" and engage in debate "in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds."¹³
In 2016, Obama condemned the "vulgar and divisive rhetoric" in that year's presidential campaign, saying "we can have political debates without turning on one another."¹⁴
He claimed people should be able to "disagree without assuming it is motivated by malice."¹⁵
Fast forward to 2025, and Obama is sharing a stage with someone who fantasized about executing a Republican legislator and his young children.
The contradiction couldn't be more glaring.
Jones didn't just make an off-color joke or use heated metaphors.
He engaged in detailed fantasy about political violence against specific people, including toddlers.
This happened after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in September — an event that intensified national scrutiny of violent political rhetoric.¹⁶
Yet Democrats from Obama down to Senator Tim Kaine refused to call for Jones to leave the race.
Kaine told CNN's Manu Raju he still supported Jones despite the "completely indefensible" texts.¹⁷
Fox News contributor Guy Benson nailed the hypocrisy.
"Yes, Jay 'I want to murder Republicans and their children' Jones shared this very stage with Obama because he was invited to do so [and] remains an endorsed member of the Dems' ticket," Benson wrote. "Obama doesn't even believe his faux high-minded bulls—, but this is his autopilot slop."¹⁸
Conservative commentator Western Lensman pointed out that Obama told the Norfolk crowd Spanberger knows people should be "able to disagree without calling each other nasty names or demonizing each other."¹⁹
Jones characterized Gilbert as worse than Hitler and Pol Pot and expressed a wish to urinate on his grave.²⁰
But sure, Obama — tell us more about civility.
The Democrat double standard on political rhetoric reached a new low in Norfolk.
Obama and his party spent years weaponizing calls for "civility" to silence conservative voices.
They pretended Trump's tough rhetoric represented an existential threat to democracy itself.
Now they're rallying behind a candidate who literally texted about murdering Republicans and their children — and Obama couldn't even bring himself to mention it.
Virginia voters will decide today whether they're buying what Democrats are selling.
But Obama already showed the world exactly what the Democrat Party really values.
¹ Charles Creitz, "'They endorse killing us': Obama, Spanberger slammed for stumping with murder-texting Jay Jones," Fox News, November 3, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ "'Beyond disqualifying': Jay Jones controversy jolts Virginia's pivotal 2025 elections," Virginia Mercury, October 5, 2025.
⁵ Creitz, Fox News, November 3, 2025.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ Ibid.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² Ibid.
¹³ "President Obama's Call For Civility," PBS News, January 13, 2011.
¹⁴ "Obama deeply dismayed by 'vulgar' presidential campaign," PBS News, March 15, 2016.
¹⁵ Ibid.
¹⁶ "Barack Obama Issues Political Violence Warning After Charlie Kirk Assassination," Newsweek, September 17, 2025.
¹⁷ "Jay Jones condemned by Virginia Democrats but not pushed to leave race," CNN Politics, October 6, 2025.
¹⁸ Creitz, Fox News, November 3, 2025.
¹⁹ Ibid.
²⁰ "'Beyond disqualifying': Jay Jones controversy jolts Virginia's pivotal 2025 elections," Virginia Mercury, October 5, 2025.
