Van Jones: Democrats Wasted Three Years On ‘Fantasy Football Politics’ With Robert Mueller And Impeachment
In an interview with S.E. Cupp broadcast on Saturday, CNN‘s Van Jones accused the Democratic Party of overlooking African-American voters, reports Mediaite.
Jones began the discussion by noting that both parties appear to be making an effort to appeal to black voters. He pointed out that President Donald Trump recently launched an advertisement campaign touting his criminal justice measures, acknowledging that race was discussed during the most recent Democratic primary debate on Friday.
Jones said that it is “good to hear some acknowledgment,” adding that both parties used to write off and ignore African-American voters, which does not seem to be the case this year. However, the commentator suggested that Democrats wasted a tremendous amount of political capital by spending three years focusing on Trump and engaging in “fantasy football politics.”
“I would accuse my party at this point of having engaged in three years of fantasy football politics where we said, ‘OK, don’t worry. Trump is never going to be seated because the Electoral College won’t seat him.'”
Jones also pointed to former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference and related matters, and to impeachment.
“After three years of all of that fantasy football, guess what we have? Trump is still in the White House,” he said, adding that Democrats should have — instead of focusing on Trump — tried to understand why so many voters who voted for former President Barack Obama twice decided to back Trump in 2016.
Instead of engaging in introspection, according to Jones, the Democrats spent the past three years launching investigations into Trump and accusing voters who voted for Obama and then Trump of being “Nazis.” They should have, instead, tried to figure out why the voters made the switch, which led to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s devastating defeat.
All of this has helped Trump, according to Jones, boosting his approval and favorability ratings, as the Democratic Party struggles to coalesce around a nominee to take him on in November of 2020.
“The reality is all the blood, sweat and tears over impeachment, Bob Mueller, has not done anything dent Trump, he’s higher in the polls than he’s ever been, and we still don’t have a candidate,” the commentator said.
WATCH THIS VIDEO if you want my take on Trump's strategy with Black voters. I broke it down tonight with @SECupp on @UnfilteredSE.
BOTTOM LINE: We've neglected the base of our party for WAY TOO LONG. Democrats need to stop taking black & brown votes for granted. @CNN pic.twitter.com/bTOeSwLn7k
— Van Jones (@VanJones68) February 9, 2020
Trump is indeed higher in the polls than he has ever been. According to latest Gallup research, the president’s approval rating is at an all-time high of 49 percent. Ninety-four percent of Republicans approve of the president’s job performance, as do 42 percent of independent voters.
The Republican Party is surging in the polls as well. The GOP’s image has, for the first time since 2005, exceeded 50 percent and 48 percent of Americans now identify as Republicans, as opposed to 44 percent of those who identify as Democrats.
