CNN’s Van Jones expressed concern on Tuesday about conservatives celebrating Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate selection.
Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her potential vice president, with former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany reacting by saying she believes “there’s a lot of cheering at Mar-a-Lago at the moment.” Jones, on “CNN Newsroom With Jim Acosta,” said conservatives are much happier with this pick than Harris’ other top contenders because of Walz’s liberal record. (RELATED: Kamala Harris Fails To Sit For Interview During First Week Of Presidential Campaign)
WATCH:
‘That’s Not Good’: Van Jones Says It ‘Worries’ Him How Conservatives ‘Rejoicing’ Over Harris’ VP Pick pic.twitter.com/8YJ5VM8Sho
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“What worries me is you see a lot of relief from the conservatives. They were scared of Josh Shapiro … they were scared of a Mark Kelly. They thought that would help define Kamala more to the middle,” Jones said. “You see a lot of rejoicing on the right. That’s not good.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly were both rumored to be final contenders for Harris’ vice presidential pick. Democratic strategists and political observers speculated the Harris campaign would not choose Shapiro because he is Jewish and that it could be a drag to have two minority candidates on the ticket.
“You’ve got some disquiet in the Jewish community. Some people had their hopes up, maybe you’re going to get another shot at a Jewish vice president. We haven’t had that for two decades and now that gets pulled away,” Jones added. “Is it just because he’s a moderate, or is there some anti-Jewish bias here? So the party is still digesting this. I think if you’re a young Muslim or a young Arab or someone who’s concerned about Gaza, it gives you a reason to stay excited about Kamala because that was going to be hard for the party to digest. So you’ve got a party now trying to figure out, is this good, is this bad? What does it mean for the young people?”
Walz was a preferred pick for the progressive left, who championed him when the choice was reportedly down to him and Shapiro. Democratic anti-Israel activists criticized Shapiro for his pro-Israel views.
“I think it is fair to call him a progressive in sheep’s clothing. When you look at his record over the last few years, what you see are transgender surgeries for minors, carbon electrical grid by 2040, driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants,” McEnany said. “In function, his abortion policy allows abortion until birth.”
“These are policies that are far to the left of America … Kamala Harris has to do the exact opposite of what Tim Walz did,” she continued. “Tim Walz became more progressive. Kamala Harris is trying to become more moderate. But Republicans are going to say, ‘you’ve shed all your progressive policies, but yet you chose a progressive.’”
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