Former Obama adviser Van Jones recently admitted that President-elect Donald Trump is smarter than his critics give him credit for.
“Guys, can we cut it out? Donald Trump is not an idiot. Let me just be very clear. Donald Trump is smarter than me, you, and all of his critics,” Jones said. “You know how I know? Because he has the White House, the Senate, the House, the Supreme Court, the popular vote.”
Jones made the comments during an interview with former CNN reporter Chris Cilizza on his YouTube channel. He spoke about Trump’s overwhelming political success.
“He has a massive media ecosystem bigger than the mainstream built around him, and for him,” Jones added. “And a religious fervor in a political movement around him. And his best buddy is the richest person in the history of the world, and the most relevant Kennedy is with him.”
Jones didn’t hold back on how Democrats appear in the wake of Trump’s victory. “We’re the idiots,” he said bluntly. “We lost. So we have to go back in the locker room… and figure out how in the hell did we get beat.”
He blamed arrogance and elitism within the Democratic Party for alienating voters. “It’s not respecting people, it’s not listening to people,” he said.
Speaking at the New York Times Dealbook Summit, Jones said, “There’s a reckoning inside the Democratic Party.” He referenced Vice President Kamala Harris, adding, “Kamala Harris promised us freedom… well, she delivered it to us, because now we’re free from having to run anything in Washington, D.C. That’s not what we were signing up for, it’s what we got.”
Jones pointed out how rebels within the party have been pushed away. “RFK was a rebel inside of our party… the DNC wouldn’t let him. You can walk down the list,” he said.
He listed others who felt alienated, including Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, and Bernie Sanders supporters. “Something’s happened in this party where the rebels… no longer feel like they have a place,” Jones said. “We’ve got to be able to talk about that stuff honestly.”
Jones didn’t shy away from criticizing President Biden. “I love Joe Biden,” he said. “He should have walked away and let other people in this party step up to the bat. He didn’t, and we paid the price.”