CNN‘s Van Jones had a grim and deeply concerned reaction as he realized Donald Trump was on the verge of defeating Kamala Harris and re-gaining the presidency.
The cable news commentator was live on the network’s election coverage panel Tuesday night as he described Trump returning to power as a “nightmare,” and showed particular empathy for Black women who supported Harris, along with immigrants and trans youth.
“I’m thinking about the people who are not a part of anybody’s elite who are hurting tonight,” Jones said. “There are African American women who know a little bit about being talked down to, and know a little bit about having their economic dreams crushed, who tried to dream a big dream over the past couple months. And tonight, they’re trading in a lot of hope for a lot of hurt. And they were hoping that maybe this time, one of their own could be seen as worthy. And once again, they’re facing rejection, and that hurts. They thought tomorrow morning they’re going to walk out with their shoulders back a little bit, maybe able to breathe for the first time and feel like they belong someplace. They did everything that they knew how to do, and it’s going to be harder than it should be tomorrow for them to hold their heads up.”
Continued Jones: “And they’re not the only people who are hurting tonight. If you’re trans, if you’re a parent of a trans kid, your child’s face was used as a springboard to power for somebody, and that doesn’t feel good. There are going to be people tomorrow; we’re going to be handing clothes [to immigrants at] the dry cleaners who don’t have papers. There’s going be people who are going to be cleaning your teeth tomorrow who don’t have papers and they are terrified tonight. So it’s easy to blow this off — ‘Oh, look at the elite, they’re gonna get their comeuppance.’ It’s not the elite who are going to pay the price. It’s people who woke up this morning with a dream and are going to bed with a nightmare, and those people deserve to be respected and held and talked to. Those are the people who are going to pay the price, whatever Donald Trump decides to do.”
The rest of the CNN panel respectfully remained dead silent during Jones’ comments.
The comments come as Hollywood celebrities likewise are reacting to Trump’s victory. Don’t Look Up filmmaker Adam McKay write: “Who would have guessed lying about Biden’s cognitive health for 2 yrs, refusing to do an open convention for a new nominee, never mentioning public healthcare & embracing fracking, the Cheneys & a yr long slaughter of children in Gaza wouldn’t be a winning strategy? Anyone with half a brain. But I thought liberals’ whole thing is being smart? It’s not? They actually just blindly cheer the parade of rickety optics wrapped up in New York Times fonts that is the modern Dem Party? Well at least it’s time for the dusty hacks & careerists to spread their feathers wide post election and blame Russia and third party candidates. That should fix things.”
While on The Daily Show‘s election night special, a visibly frustrated Jon Stewart ended with a message of hope and reassurance: “I promise you, this is not the end.”
Harris is expected to give her concession speech later on Wednesday from her alma mater, Howard University.
English (US) ·