Political Power Players

CNN Commentator Van Jones On The Role Of Progressives In Tumultuous Times, Bridging The Political Divide And Embracing Change.

- A.J. Katz

Van Jones surprised his CNN colleagues the evening of Feb. 28 when he effusively praised a portion of President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress: “He became president of the United States in that moment, period,” the left-leaning political commentator proclaimed. “That was one of the most extraordinary moments you have ever seen in American politics. Period.”

Jones was referring to the moving moment when the president honored the widow of William “Ryan” Owens, the Navy SEAL who was killed during the January raid in Yemen. It became yet another viral sound bite from the commentator, who has been one of Trump’s most vocal critics since the real estate mogul announced his candidacy for president. Following Trump’s victory, Jones even went so far to as to describe the president elect’s Nov. 8 victory as “a whitelash.”

While Jones has attempted to clarify those comments in recent weeks, explaining on The View that he wasn’t referring to all Trump voters, just “the alt-right and the neo-Nazis who were celebrating,” they ignited a social storm that significantly raised Jones’ profile–for better or for worse, depending on which side of the political divide viewers fell.

Jones is no stranger to controversy. He had a brief stint as a green jobs adviser in the Obama administration but resigned in 2009 when a public feud with former Fox News host Glenn Beck became too much of a distraction. “It was very painful at the time, and I didn’t think that I would ever recover professionally or emotionally,” Jones admitted. “But anyone who’s gone through something really tough like that has to just keep on living because neither success nor failures are permanent conditions.”