After Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family escaped a firebombing at his Harrisburg residence earlier this year, the first-term Democrat’s calls for civility amid multiplying acts of political violence have drawn national attention.

And on Tuesday, he extended the message of moral clarity to the fallout of disturbing text messages sent by a fellow Democrat running for Virginia attorney general that were released on Oct. 3, two weeks after voters began casting ballots for the Nov. 4 general election.

“Governor Shapiro has been loud and clear that leaders need to speak and act with moral clarity and stand up against the hatred, the dangerous rhetoric, and the political violence that is gripping our country,” said Manuel Bonder, the governor’s campaign spokesman, in a statement to The Center Square.

In 2022, former state House Del. Jay Jones sent texts to another legislator criticizing Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert, accusing him of raising “little fascists” that he hoped would die in his wife’s arms from gunshot wounds to change his mind on firearm policy.

In another message, he joked that if given two bullets to kill Gilbert alongside former dictators Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot, he’d shoot the speaker twice.

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