CNN analyst Van Jones gave a moving explanation of the pain and fear that many Americans feel as Donald Trump appeared to be on the verge of being elected the nation’s next president.
Jones called a Trump victory a “nightmare” and said it would be difficult for many parents to explain to their kids how a man who regularly insults and belittles others was the president-elect.
“People have talked about a miracle ― I’m hearing about a nightmare,” Jones said on CNN. “It’s hard to be a parent tonight for a lot of us. You tell your kids, ‘Don’t be a bully.’ You tell your kids, ‘Don’t be a bigot.’ You tell your kids, ‘Do your homework and be prepared.’ Then you have this outcome, and you have people putting children to bed tonight and they’re afraid of breakfast.
“They’re afraid of, ‘How do I explain this to my children?’ I have Muslim friends who are texting me tonight saying, ‘Should I leave the country?’ I have families of immigrants that are terrified tonight.”
Jones’ comments immediately drew praise on Twitter.
Many attributed Trump’s success to his ability to turn out white working-class voters. Jones said race also played an important role in the election.
“This was a whitelash against a changing country,” he said. “It was a whitelash against a black president in part. And that’s the part where the pain comes. And Donald Trump has a responsibility tonight to come out and assure people that he is going to be the president of all the people he insulted and offended and brushed aside.
“Yeah, when you say you want to take your country back, you got a lot of people who feel that we’re not represented well, either. But we don’t want to feel that someone has been elected by throwing away some of us to appeal more deeply to others.”
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