Van Jones Says Democrats Are in Trouble: Trump Is Helping African Americans ‘In Real Life’

After the State of the Union address Tuesday night, CNN commentator Van Jones warned Democrats  that President Donald Trump was helping African Americans “in real life” and was actively reaching out to them for votes.

Jones noted that the president cited several measures to specifically help African-Americans.

Jones Gets Real with Democrats

“What he was saying to African-Americans can be effective,” Jones said. “You may not like it, but he mentioned HBCUs [historically black colleges and universities] — our black colleges have been struggling for a long time, a bunch of them have gone under — he threw a lifeline to them, in real life, in his budget. He talked about that. He talked about the criminal justice reform. He talked about opportunity zones. He talked about school choice.”

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Democrats failed to report results of Monday’s first, crucial presidential primary contest, the Iowa Caucus. As of Wednesday morning the full results are still not in. Jones noted that Trump’s State of the Union address came in the wake of Democrats’ completely flubbing Iowa caucuses.

‘WAKE UP’

Jones tweeted a video of what he said on the CNN panel, adding: “WAKE UP, folks. The #IowaCaucus was a debacle, followed by a strong #SOTU speech laying out Trump’s strategy to win – which includes going for Black voters. This was a warning shot from the Trump campaign to liberals, and we need to take this VERY seriously in order to win.”

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Democrats Continue to be Their Own Worst Enemy

Jones has been critical of the Trump administration, though he did support Trump passing criminal justice reform through the First Step Act.

President Trump paid tribute to several African-American guests and heroes during his SOTU, including Tuskegee Airman Charles McGee, Army Veteran Tony Rankins and fourth grader Janiyah Davis, who he awarded an Opportunity Scholarship.

Jones is not wrong that President Trump heavily emphasized issues of importance to African Americans in ways that Democrats ignore at their own peril.

Will it help re-elect him in 2020? Time will tell. In the meantime, especially after the Iowa Caucus, Democrats continue to be their own worst enemy.