Virginia’s newly sworn-in Attorney General, Jay Jones, is facing a wave of online ridicule after his office failed to spell his own job title correctly. An official graphic released on Thursday referred to the Democrat as the "Attoney General," a blunder that critics quickly seized upon. The embarrassing typo overshadowed Jones' announcement that he intends to use his office to block efforts to reform in-state tuition for undocumented students.
Former Attorney General Jason Miyares led the charge in mocking his successor’s lack of attention to detail. Miyares posted a screenshot of the error with the mistake circled in red, jokingly suggesting the staff might have been using a "Jersey accent." This lighter jab was joined by much sharper criticism from the Virginia GOP, which pointed out that it took the new administration an entire day to fix the sloppy mistake.
The Republican National Lawyers Association (RNLA) also piled on, suggesting that Jones is already "struggling" in his new role. They noted that the rush to change the letterhead from his previous campaign scandals likely led to this latest embarrassment. National Review’s Jim Geraghty added a stinging perspective, quipping that a misspelling is probably not even among the worst things Jones has sent electronically.
Jones entered office under a cloud of controversy following the leak of disturbing text messages during his campaign. In those messages, Jones reportedly fantasized about the death of political opponent House Speaker Todd Gilbert and his children. Despite these resurfaced scandals, Jones managed to win office during last November's blue wave alongside Governor Abigail Spanberger.
The "Attoney General" gaffe hit just as Jones was attempting to frame himself as a leader of the "resistance" against the Trump administration. He claimed his move to defend tuition for undocumented students was a fulfillment of his promise to fight back against federal policies. However, the optics of the misspelling have undercut his message, making him an easy target for those questioning his competence.
When asked about the typo, Jones' office chose to ignore the error entirely, instead issuing a statement about "protecting the Commonwealth." While his staff claims he is "already scoring wins," the public is focused on the fact that he cannot even manage a spell-check on his first day. This rocky start suggests that the new administration may be more focused on political posturing than professional excellence.