Van Jones became emotional as he thought about marginalized Americans who feared what Donald Trump would do as president.
Sitting on CNN’s election night panel just before 1 a.m. EST, knowing that Trump was almost certain to win, Jones’ voice broke as he spoke.
“I’m thinking about the people who are not part of anyone’s elite, who are suffering tonight,” he said.
‘There are African American women who know a little about how to be put down. They know their financial dreams will be crushed.
‘They tried to have a big dream for the last few months. Tonight they are exchanging a lot of hope for a lot of pain.
Van Jones became emotional as he thought about marginalized Americans who feared what Donald Trump would do as president.
‘There are African American women who know a little about how to be put down. They know their economic dreams will be crushed,” Jones said.
Jones lamented that American voters had rejected a black presidential candidate and elected a white man once again.
‘They hoped that perhaps this time, this time, one of their own might be deemed worthy. And, once again, they face rejection, and that hurts,’ he said.
‘They thought that tomorrow morning they were going to go out with their shoulders back a little. Maybe I can breathe for the first time and belong somewhere.
Instead, it would be “harder than it should be” for them to “hold their heads up” on Wednesday, after doing everything they could.
But they weren’t the only ones who suffered, Jones said, as other minorities Trump disparaged during the campaign were afraid of what he would do.
Jones lamented that American voters had rejected a black presidential candidate and elected a white man once again.
‘If you are a parent of a trans child, your child’s face was used as a springboard to power for someone. “That doesn’t feel good,” he said.
‘There will be people tomorrow who will be delivering clothes to the dry cleaners to people who don’t have papers. Tomorrow there will be people brushing your teeth who don’t have papers.
“Tonight they are terrified.”
Jones said it was easy for Trump supporters to boast that “the elites will get what they deserve” when he takes power, but they wouldn’t be the ones who would really suffer.
“These are the people who woke up this morning with a dream and go to bed with a nightmare,” he said.
“Those people will pay the price for whatever Donald Trump decides to do.”
Another panelist asked Jones how he knew that many of the people he was talking about didn’t actually help Trump’s likely victory, but Jones wasn’t given a chance to respond.
Another panelist asked Jones how he knew that many of the people he was talking about didn’t actually help Trump’s likely victory.
“The Democratic Party let these black women down,” she said.
Jones said he was going to ‘try’ to respond to that point, but before he could say anything, the coverage had to move to a new outcome.
Jones served as former President Barack Obama’s special adviser for green jobs in 2009 and is a former lawyer and civil rights advocate.
