CNNpp Van Jones had a somber and deeply troubled reaction when he realized Donald Trump was about to defeat Kamala Harris and regain the presidency.
The cable news commentator was live on the network’s election coverage panel Tuesday night when he described Trump’s return to power as a “nightmare” and showed particular empathy for black women who supported Harris, along with immigrants and transgender youth.
“I think of the people who are not part of anyone’s elite who are suffering tonight,” Jones said. “There are African-American women who know little about being talked down to and know little about having their financial dreams crushed, who have been trying to dream a big dream for the past few 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 face rejection, and it hurts. They thought tomorrow morning they would walk out with their shoulders back a little, maybe for the first time, and feel that they belong somewhere. They did everything they knew how to do, and it’s going to be harder than it should be tomorrow for them to keep their heads up.”
Continued Jones: “And they’re not the only ones hurting tonight. If you’re trans, if you’re the parent of a trans child, your child’s face was used as a stepping stone to power for someone, and it doesn’t feel good. There will be people tomorrow; we will give clothes (to immigrants at) the dry cleaners that do not have paper. There will be people brushing your teeth tomorrow who don’t have papers and they’re terrified tonight. So it’s easy to blow this off – “Oh, look at the elite, they’re going to get their position.” It is not the elite who will pay the price. These are people who woke up this morning with a dream and go to bed with a nightmare, and those people deserve to be respected and held and talked to. They are the ones who will pay the price, no matter what Donald Trump decides to do.”
The rest of the CNN panel remained respectfully silent during Jones’ remarks.
The comments come as Hollywood celebrities as well reacting to Trump’s victory. Don’t look up filmmaker Adam McKay wrote: “Who would have guessed that lying about Biden’s cognitive health for two years, refusing to hold an open convention for a new nominee, never mentioning public health care and embracing fracking, Cheney’s and a year-long slaughter of children in Gaza would not be a winning strategy? But I thought the liberals’ whole thing is to be smart? They’re actually blindly wrapped up in the parade New York Times font that is the modern Dem party? In any case, it’s time for the dusty hacks and careerists to spread their feathers wide after the election and blame Russia and third party candidates. That should fix things.”
Meanwhile, on The Daily Shows 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 deliver her concession speech later Wednesday from her alma mater, Howard University.
