Brent Lang Executive Editor As Donald Trump stood at the brink of victory on Wednesday morning, CNN commentator Van Jones grew emotional as he talked about the fear and hurt many Kamala Harris supporters were feeling after she lost the presidency.
In a choked up voice, Jones reflected on the “hurt” that Black women who had turned out for the vice president were experiencing. “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 of months.
And tonight, they’re trading in a lot of hope for a lot of hurt. They were hoping that maybe this time — this time — one of their own could be seen as worthy.” Jones has served as a sort of proxy for blue-state sentiment during CNN’s past few election sessions.
A former Obama Administration advisor, the activist and commentator in 2016 served up raw emotion as it became clear that Trump would take a first term over then-candidate Hillary Clinton. “This was a white-lash against a changing country,” he said at the time. “It was a white-lash against a Black president in part, and that’s the part where the pain comes.” At the time, he went on to urge Trump to “…come out and reassure people that he is going to be the president of all the people who he insulted and offended and brushed aside.” In 2024, he offered a similar plea for the winners to consider the people who supported the loser.
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