In the wake of the Thursday riots over the death of George Floyd, CNN commentator Van Jones expressed his belief that Hillary Clinton supporters are a more significant threat to African Americans than the Ku Klux Klan, RealClearPolitics reported.
“It’s not the racist white person who is in the Ku Klux Klan that we have to worry about,” Jones said. “It’s the white liberal Hillary Clinton supporter walking her dog in Central Park who would tell you right now, you know, people like that, ‘I don’t see race, race is no big deal to me, I see us all as the same, I give to charities,’ but the minute she sees a black man who she does not respect or who she has a slight thought against, she weaponized race like she had been trained by the Aryan nation.”
Jones’ comments were directed at Amy Cooper, a white woman who called the police on Christian Cooper, an African American birdwatcher in New York’s Central Park. As reported by NBC News , Amy Cooper was walking her dog without a leash, which is against the regulations of the Ramble, a portion of the park popular with birdwatchers. When Christian Cooper asked her to secure her pet, Amy Cooper called 911 and falsely accused him of threatening her and made repeated references to his race.
As reported by RT , Jones’ comment echoed famous human rights activist Malcolm X, who suggested that white liberals are the most significant threat to African Americans because they appear to be friendly. The human rights activist compared this demographic to a fox, which he suggested is a more dangerous forest animal than a wolf due to its use of deceit.
Jones’ comments were met with backlash from many white liberals, who appeared upset for being compared to white supremacists and demanded Jones apologize. As noted by RT , many users claimed that such complaints were proving Jones’ point.
. @VanJones68 is right.
Over 20% of Hillary supporters think Blacks are less intelligent than whites. About 30% say we’re more violent and more criminal.
“Trump is worse” is a weak balm for those of us on the receiving end of this racism. https://t.co/X7POvJDU8E pic.twitter.com/5FPHgbCkLn
— Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy) May 29, 2020
Despite the pushback, Jones’ comments were met with praise from some progressive critics of the Democratic Party. One user claimed that Jones would likely be removed from CNN in the near future and accused the liberal demographic of only tolerating African American opinions if it helps their agenda.
Jones was previously critical of the Democratic Party’s obsession with impeaching Donald Trump instead of addressing the issues facing black Americans. According to Jones, Democrats would have been better off attempting to figure out why millions of voters who supported former President Barack Obama in 2012 shifted their support to Trump in 2016.
