With Donald Trump on the brink of victory Wednesday morning, CNN commentator Van Jones spoke about the fear and hurt many Kamala Harris supporters feel after losing the presidency. He spoke and became emotional. In a choked voice, Jones reflected on the “hurt” experienced by the black women who ran as vice presidential candidates.
“I’m thinking about all the people who are hurting tonight who are not part of anyone’s elite,” Jones said. “African American women who know a thing or two about being called names and a thing or two about having their financial dreams shattered have been trying to dream big in the past few months. And tonight, they are trading a lot of hope for a lot of hurt. They were hoping that maybe this time… At this time — one of their own could be considered worthy. ”
Jones has served as something of a voice for blue state sentiment during CNN’s past few election sessions. The former Obama administration adviser, activist and commentator revealed his raw emotions in 2016 when it was revealed that President Trump would defeat then-candidate Hillary Clinton to win a first term. did. “This was tit-for-tat for a country that was changing,” he said at the time. “It was partly a white whip against a black president. That’s the painful part.” At the time, he went on to tell Trump, “The president of all the people he insulted and offended and ignored. I want him to come out publicly and reassure people that he intends to become a leader.”
In 2024, it made a similar appeal to the winners to consider those who supported the losers. “And once again they’re facing rejection, and that’s heartbreaking,” Jones added. “They thought that tomorrow morning they would be able to put their shoulders down and walk outside, and maybe for the first time they would be able to breathe and feel like they belonged somewhere. We’ve done all that, but it’s going to be harder for them to keep their heads up than it needs to be.”
Jones spotlighted other groups that were targeted by Trump and his campaign in the race for the White House, including members of the LGBTQ community and undocumented immigrants, and highlighted the concerns felt in some parts of the country. It emphasized the sense of shock.
“If you’re the parent of a transgender child, your child’s face has been used as a stepping stone to empower someone else,” Jones said. “It doesn’t feel good. People are going to come in tomorrow and they’re going to be giving clothes at the dry cleaners to people who don’t have papers. The people who brush their teeth tomorrow won’t have papers. And they… will be terrified tonight.”
“It’s easy to blow this off and say, ‘Oh, elites, they’re going to turn it around,'” Jones said. “It’s not the elites who pay the price. It’s the people who wake up this morning with a dream and go to bed with a nightmare.”
