Thursday marked the final day of the Republican National Convention and Donald Trump himself was the grand finale. Trump’s speech was well received by the crowd but CNN commentator Van Jones wasn’t having any of it. “I've never felt this way in my life,” Jones stated, “You're either inspired by this or you're terrified by it. I’m terrified by it.” It was all a part of a rant he delivered on CNN’ America’s Choice 2016 programming.
Jones claimed he tried to listen to Trump with an open mind, “I came here tonight with an open heart.” “I was prepared to hear him do something extraordinary,” he continued. But only found a few bright spots in that evening’s speeches, “If you have a pulse, if you have a functioning brain stem, you should have been saluting Ivanka Trump.” “But what Donald Trump did tonight is a disgrace,” he spat.
There was also a lot of resentment from Jones for Trump’s messages to the Black and Hispanic communities:
I work in some of the toughest neighborhoods, in some of the toughest communities, in this country and I don't know what he's talking about when he describes the country he's talking about. And there was some schizophrenic psychopathic attempt to pull apart the Obama coalition, but from a political point of view, he even botched that.
Jones seemed to also try his hand at being prophet. He conjured images of the rise of authoritarian leaders throughout history and argued that is what he felt after Trump’s speech. “I have read in history being in moments where there's some big authoritarian movement of some leader that's rising up,” he warned, “And I felt that way tonight and it was terrifying to me.”
Transcript below:
CNN
America’s Choice 2016
July 21, 2016
11:50:43 PM EasternVAN JONES: I came here tonight with an open heart. I think you saw that. I was prepared to hear him do something extraordinary. And never underestimate the power of a single speech to turn a country around. Ivanka was beautiful. She gave a general election speech. If you have a pulse, if you have a functioning brain stem, you should have been saluting Ivanka Trump.
His friend, who tried to humanize him, did a beautiful job. But what Donald Trump did tonight is a disgrace. That was a relentlessly, even for Donald Trump, who at least occasionally breaks up the fear mongering with some jokes, some asides, some amusement, he had one funny line in an hour and 15 minutes and the rest of it was a relentlessly dark speech. He was describing some Mad Max America.
I work in some of the toughest neighborhoods, in some of the toughest communities, in this country and I don't know what he's talking about when he describes the country he's talking about. And there was some schizophrenic psychopathic attempt to pull apart the Obama coalition, but from a political point of view, he even botched that.
He says he reaches out to the LGBT community and he says, foreign ideologies that hate you, I'm against it. But the domestic ideologies that hate you he’s apparently for, because they're in his platform. He says he's going to reach out to African-Americans and deal with their economic pain. It's hard, Anderson, to get a job if you're in a community that's over policed and you have a criminal record. And every other leader in the country on both sides of the aisle have is talked about criminal justice. He didn't.
I am actually -- I've never felt this way in my life. I have read in history being in moments where there's some big authoritarian movement of some leader that's rising up. And I felt that way tonight and it was terrifying to me. This speech divided the country. You're either inspired by this or you're terrified by it. I’m terrified by it. I’m terrified by it, Anderson.
