Van Jones, the former Obama administration official and current CNN commentator, said on Friday that President Trump ‘doesn’t get credit’ for the ‘good things’ he has done for African Americans, prompting Twitter users to call for his firing.
Jones made the comment while providing on-air analysis during Jake Tapper’s daily CNN broadcast on Friday.
Tapper began the segment by panning Trump’s comment during Thursday’s debate in which the president said he had done more for black Americans than any of his predecessors aside from Abraham Lincoln.
The CNN host, who mentioned Lyndon Johnson’s signing into law of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as an example of a president who did more for blacks than Trump, then played a clip from the debate.
Van Jones (top right), the CNN pundit, said on Friday that Trump ‘doesn’t get credit’ for the ‘good things’ he has done for the black community. Jones appeared alongside Jake Tapper (left) and commentator Scott Jennings (bottom right) on CNN on Friday
Jones has praised Trump in the past for signing into a law the First Step Act, which is aimed at easing prison sentences for those convicted of nonviolent offenses. Trump is seen above in the Oval Office with Alice Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old black woman who was freed from prison by the president after she served more than 21 years for a nonviolent drug offense
Jones has worked with Trump administration officials, including Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and White House advisor, on criminal justice reform. Jones is seen second from left alongside Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, at the White House in May 2018
In the footage, Trump says he is the ‘least racist person in this room.’
‘Eight in ten black Americans believe that Trump is a racist, according to a Washington Post/Ipsos poll earlier this year,’ Tapper said.
‘Why does the president make comments like that instead of acknowledging that he has said things that seem insensitive but he wants to work on it?’
Jones responded that it wasn’t in the president’s character to admit to wrongdoing.
He then pivoted to praise Trump for doing ‘good things’ for the black community.
‘Black college stuff, I worked with him on criminal stuff, I saw Donald Trump have African American people, formerly incarcerated, in the White House – embraced them, treated them well,’ Jones said.
‘There is a side to Donald Trump that I think he does not get enough credit for.’
During Thursday’s presidential debate in Nashville, Trump claimed he was the ‘least racist person in this room,’ after debate moderator Kristen Welker asked him about calling Black Lives Matter a ‘symbol of hate’ and sharing a video to Twitter of a man shouting ‘white power’
But Jones then said that Trump’s actions made it harder for the public to give him credit.
‘But the reason he doesn’t is because he also says the most incendiary stuff, he retweets white nationalists, and he violates the number one rule of blackness, which is, I don’t mess with people who mess with people I don’t mess with,’ Jones said.
‘In other words, I’m not friends with people who are friends of my enemies.
‘And so the black community can appreciate some of the stuff he’s done, but when they see him playing footsie on Twitter with these white nationalist organizations, it just wipes it all out.’
While Trump called himself the ‘least racist person in this room’ on Thursday night, Democrat Joe Biden gave the exact opposite assessment during a tussle over race during the Nashville presidential debate.
‘Abraham Lincoln here is one of the most racist presidents in modern history,’ Biden said.
Trump had tried to tarnish Biden’s civil rights record by pointing to his Senate vote in the 1994 crime bill and falsely claimed the former vice president had referred to black men as ‘super predators.’
‘Nobody has done more for the black community than Donald Trump … with the exception of Abraham Lincoln, possible exception, but with the exception of Abraham Lincoln, nobody has done what I’ve done,’ Trump said, repeating a boast he’s been making all year, name-dropping the president who ended slavery.
The president pointed to his record of funding historically black colleges and universities, signing the bipartisan First Step act – a big criminal justice reform bill – and creating so-called ‘opportunity zones’ to boost minority communities.
Debate moderator Kristen Welker asked Trump about a different part of his record – noting how he had called the Black Lives Matter movement a ‘symbol of hate.’
She also mentioned how Trump had shared a video of a man chanting ‘white power’ and he lashed out at athletes who have taken a knee over racial inequality.
‘The first time I ever heard of Black Lives Matter, they were chanting “Pigs in a blanket,” talking about our police, “fry them like a bacon,” I said that is a horrible thing,’ the president said.
‘I thought it was a terrible thing.’
He then made the claim,’ I am the least racist person in this room.’
Biden then made fun of Trump’s Abraham Lincoln line.
‘He pours a fuel on every single racist fire,’ Biden said. ‘Every single one.’
‘He started his campaign coming down the escalators that he was going to get rid of those Mexican rapists.
‘He banned Muslims because they are Muslims. He said about the poor boys last time he was on stage, he told them to stand down and stand ready,’ Biden said.
Biden misstated the name of the group, Proud Boys.
Jones has angered liberals in years past by praising Trump for his moves toward enacting criminal justice reform.
It has also been reported that Jones secretly advised Trump administration officials on crafting an executive order that aims to reform police departments.
Jones has praised Trump for his moves toward criminal justice reform, though his comments have earned him scorn from liberals.
Another Twitter user tweeted: ‘Every time I think Van Jones has turned a corner, he disappoints.’
One Twitter user tweeted that they change the channel every time he appears on CNN.
One person tweeted on Friday in response to Jones’ comments on CNN: ‘Jeeesus why is Van Jones still talking about anything? What an embarrassment.’
‘Maybe he should tell the families of the ones that have lost love ones to Covid-19 how good he has done,’ another Twitter user wrote.
Another Twitter user called on CNN to fire him. ‘Time for CNN to let Van Jones go,’ they said.
Jones is said to have access to Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser.
According to The Daily Beast, Jones has been an occasional dinner guest of Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, at their Washington, DC, home.
It was Kushner who introduced Jones to Kim Kardashian-West, the reality television star whose public lobbying of the president helped secure the release from prison of Alice Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old black woman who was sentenced to life for involvement in a cocaine trafficking ring.
In June 2018, Trump commuted Johnson’s prison sentence after she served more than 21 years behind bars.
This past August, Trump invited Johnson to the Oval Office, where he signed a full presidential pardon.
Kushner was the driving force behind the First Step Act, which was signed into law by Trump after getting bipartisan support in Congress.
The First Step Act gives judges more discretion in sentencing, eases mandatory minimum sentences and encourages inmates to participate in programs aimed at reducing recidivism.
The Trump administration has promoted the overhaul as a rare bipartisan effort to address concerns that too many Americans were imprisoned for nonviolent crimes as a result of the drug war.
Jones has praised Trump for his moves toward criminal justice reform, though his comments have earned him scorn from liberals.
When Trump signaled his support for criminal justice reform in November 2018, Jones went on CNN and said: ‘I think you’ve got to give him some credit. . . . I say the 99 times I don’t agree with the president I’m going to give him hell.
‘But on this one, I’ll give him a salute and applause.’
Despite Trump’s support for criminal justice reform, African Americans overwhelmingly favor his opponent, Biden.
On Twitter, Jones was slammed by Trump’s critics.
One person tweeted on Friday in response to Jones’ comments on CNN: ‘Jeeesus why is Van Jones still talking about anything? What an embarrassment.’
‘Van Jones is an idiot,’ commented another Twitter user.
Another Twitter user tweeted: ‘Every time I think Van Jones has turned a corner, he disappoints.’
One Twitter user tweeted that they change the channel every time he appears on CNN.
Another Twitter user called on CNN to fire him. ‘Time for CNN to let Van Jones go,’ they said.
‘Maybe he should tell the families of the ones that have lost love ones to Covid-19 how good he has done,’ another Twitter user wrote.
