CNN political commentator Van Jones said that Biden and the Democrats are losing support among black voters because they overpromised, underdelivered, and inflation had made their lives worse.
Jones made the comments on CNN Friday with John Berman.
“I think that there’s a disappointment factor that’s set in, I think a lot of black voters feel like the black community gave the most during the election, it was a historic election, 2020, and have gotten the least,” Jones said.
“If you look at voting rights, so far nothing. Police reform, so far nothing. You look at some of the student loan stuff, very little. So what was motivating African-American voters left, right and otherwise, were that somebody was going to come to our rescue,” he continued.
“The day-to-day reality for black folks hasn’t improved In fact, because of inflation and other things, [have] gotten worse,” Jones concluded, “so you’re starting to see that disappointment factor set in.”
He went on to point out that conservatives have been able to recast the Republican Party as a “multi-racial working class” party to appeal to some minorities. He also blamed most of the disapproval for Biden on inflation.
“This idea, well look, Trump was here, he’s terrible, we’re gonna replace him, and we’re gonna give you 100% of what you want, with 50% of the votes in the Senate,” Jones continued.
“The math never made sense, you can pass big bills through the house, but you can’t even sometimes get a hearing in the Senate. And so by the time you get to the summertime, hey, I’m hearing all this stuff is supposed to be happening, but it’s never getting signed by the president,” he explained.
“When you overpromise so much in the beginning of the year and you’re underdelivering at the end of the year, and don’t forget Build Back Better, et cetera, you suddenly end up with a disappointment factor plus inflation,” Jones concluded.
Some on social media were furious with Van Jones for his criticism of the Democrats.
“Van Jones is a f***ing moron,” read one very popular reaction.
“Van Jones is wrong. The MEDIA HAS UNDERREPORTED Joe Biden’s accomplishments because they have PTSD from TFG. Get a handle on your business ffs, MSM,” said another critic.
“I don’t know what the f*** Van Jones’ jiggin’ and jivin’ ass is even talking about,” read another critical tweet. “How the f*** would he know what life is like for us Blacks who ain’t never played pet negro for Trump or billionaire Bezos?”
Others agreed with Jones.
“Van Jones didn’t say anything wrong here. The Democrats said what they needed to say to get the votes they needed to win, and refused to fight for any of the things that they promised. The strategy of the Democrats appears to be platitudes now and excuses later,” read one popular response.
NBC News found similar apathy among black voters in a rural town who said it didn’t appear to matter who was in the White House, Democrats or Republicans.