CNN commentator Van Jones said that President Trump’s appeals to black voters could sink the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee’s chance at winning the White House.
Jones, 51, appeared on a network panel after Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night. He stressed Democrats’ need to take a “clinical” approach to politics ahead of November’s general election and warned that Trump’s appeals to black voters could be effective.
“The Iowa caucus was a debacle, and this was a very strong speech. It shows what he thinks he needs to do to win. I think we need to be very clinical about this,” Jones began. “He knows he’s got to give a lot of red meat to his base and he gave it, for religious liberty, abortion, all of it, the military, etc.”
Trump’s speech highlighted a trade-off the president’s 2020 campaign appears to be making, according to Jones. He insisted the president was reinforcing tough policies on immigration that may prove unpopular with Latinos while offering aid to historically black colleges and universities and touting criminal justice reform.
“A warning to Democrats: What he was saying to African Americans can be effective. You may not like it, but he mentioned HBCUs. 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,” Jones said.
“He talked about criminal justice reforms. He talked about opportunity zones. He talked about school choice,” he continued. “That was a warning shot across the bow at Democrats that he is going after enough black folks to cause us problems.”
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. @CNN pic.twitter.com/bgBFms9jtN
— Van Jones (@VanJones68) February 5, 2020
