CNN commentator Van Jones said there is a risk with President Donald Trump that no one is talking about.
“There’s a danger that we all start to become Trump — that we normalize Trump emotionally. There’s a danger that we all become fear-based and fear-driven and that we give in 100% to this us-against-them hysteria,” Jones said on his program, “The Messy Truth” on Wednesday night.
Jones pointed to criticism he received over remarks he made about Trump last week after the president delivered a speech to a joint session of Congress. Jones commented on the moment that Trump applauded the widow of a US Navy SEAL who died during a January raid in Yemen. Jones said at the time that Trump “became president of the United States” at that moment.
“That wasn’t just a compliment — that was a warning,” Jones said Wednesday night. “I saw Trump as a serious threat from day one … I thought he was a serious threat then, I think he’s a serious threat now. Today.”
Jones argued that, for many, Trump’s temperament and his policies are still the major cause for concern.
“For millions of people, people I love and I work with, and I know and I care about, Trump is the scariest villain. You’ve got people living in fear.” Jones had similar remarks on election night after it became clear that Trump had collected enough electoral votes to win the presidency:
“It’s hard to be a parent tonight for a lot of us. You tell your kids, don’t be a bully. You tell your kids don’t be a bigot. You tell your kids do your homework and be prepared. And then you have this outcome, and you have people putting children to bed tonight, and they’re afraid of breakfast.”
Jones said one of the dangers of Trump — who has demonstrated a strong aversion to criticism and dissent — is that citizens at large might adopt those habits and “refuse to take the risk that there may be some good in the people we disagree with.”
