CNN’s Van Jones did not hide his pain Tuesday night as he reacted on air to President Donald Trump defending the white supremacists who incited violence over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia.
A car plowed into a group of protesters demonstrating against white supremacists and neo-Nazis on Saturday, killing one person and injuring at least 19. Two state troopers were killed in a crash of their helicopter.
Trump first reacted by blaming “many sides,” took two days to denounce racists and bigots by name, then on Tuesday returned to blaming “both sides” for the violence. White supremacists, including former KKK leader David Duke, praised the president for his most recent remarks.
Jones broke down as he said he was thinking of his godmother, who is Jewish and whose family had suffered during World War II, and how she cannot count on the president of the United States to defend and sympathize with her.
“It’s not just the people you’re emboldening,” Jones said of Trump’s comments. “It’s the people you’re abandoning, who now don’t know if they have a government that gives a damn about them ... I don’t know what to say tonight ... I’m sitting here hurt.”
Watch the full clip in the video above.
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