Van Jones Slams White Liberals Like Amy Cooper For Weaponizing Racism

Source: Tom Williams / Getty

Van Jones has become the target of both praise and criticism after speaking his mind in frank fashion regarding the current state of Black America. The CNN contributor expressed anger during a broadcast segment, calling out white liberals and aiming harsh words towards Amy Cooper while framing racism as a “virus” that causes white people to put Black lives in danger. Jones, 51, was on CNN’s New Day program Friday morning as the network was covering the third night of protests in South Minneapolis, this in the wake of security guard and Houston native George Floyd’s murder by city police. What viewers have seized on is a portion of the broadcast when Jones aimed his words towards the aforementioned Cooper, who attempted to frame a Black bird watcher in Central Park as a criminal simply because he had the audacity to fairly ask her to obey park laws regarding her dog.

Jones has fallen out of favor with some Black Americans for once stating that Donald Trump appeared to show the traits of a true president after a joint session address in front of Congress in 2017. However, conservative pundits and critics of the Democratic Party are using Jones’ statement as a rallying cry of sorts. Jones has also been slammed by others who have yet to forgive him for referring to Trump as presidential. It goes without saying that President Trump has appeared less presidential in recent months due to his administration’s mishandling of the COVID-19 situation and his insistence on using Twitter as both a bullying tool and campaign rally method aimed to stoke the fires in his wildly supportive base despite his many on the record infractions. With the clip of Van Jones calling out white liberals and suggesting racism is a “virus” they suffer with, reactions across Twitter have been growing in volume. We’ve collected those below. https://twitter.com/VanJones68/status/1266418327406039040 — Photo: Getty