CNN political commentator Van Jones tore into left-wing rhetoric during “New Day” Thursday.
Jones said Republican Texas Representative-elect Mayra Flores’ victory in Tuesday’s special election is a warning sign for Democrats due to the “MAGA Republicans” representing the “multi-racial working class” by moving left economically and to the right culturally.
“Democrats don’t see this coming, we overreact to the culture moves and under-react to the economic appeal and you’re seeing it pay off for MAGA,” Jones said. “If Democrats want working class black and working class Latino voters, we’re gonna have to change our strategy and respond to the MAGA threat.”
He said the elites use strange rhetoric that does not appeal to working class voters. (RELATED: CNN’s Harry Enten Says Republicans Are In The ‘Best Position’ For Midterms In Over 80 Years)
“Those people talk funny,” he continued. “I’ve never met a LatinX, I’ve never met a BIPOC … There’s this weird stuff that all these highly educated people say. It’s bizarre, nobody talks that way at the barbershop, the nail salon, the grocery store, the community center. But that’s how we talk now, so that’s weird.”
He added that Democrats are “overpromising” the lower class on economic issues, such as on reparations.
CNN’s John Berman asked about the reaction from national Democrats to Van Jones’ points. He said Democrats need to focus on issues that appeal to black and Hispanic church goers that primarily relate to family and economics.
“I think there is a penalty to pay if you don’t go along with the normal narrative,” Van Jones replied. “The normal narrative has been [that] all black and brown people hate racists, all Republicans are racist, so all black and brown voters are going to vote for Democrats. All of that doesn’t make sense in the real world. All Republicans are not racist and Republican appeals are not just racial, some of them are economic, some of them cultural, and all black and brown folks are not liberals.”
Host Brianna Keilar pointed to Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, saying he welcomes “support from African Americans” in response to Elon Musk hinting his support for him in 2024. Jones said the response is a strategic way for the Florida governor to keep his name in the news.
“People assume that everybody from Africa is black,” Jones said. “Elon Musk is a white South African who came to the United States, so he’s kind of teasing. But what he’s really doing is keeping that story in the news cycle. This guy is very, very smart about keeping us talking about him and when the richest guy in the world says something about you and then you say something funny, it keeps his name in the news cycle. This guy’s learned a lot from Donald Trump.”