During CNN’s coverage of the Republican National Convention on America’s Choice 2016 on Monday, panelist Van Jones went off the rails and declared the whole event an unabashed “hate-fest.” “What I will say is this. Up until now, up until this moment, I was not saying borderline hate-fest. This is hate-fest,” Jones declared after his fellow panelists called him out for going beyond the pale with his description of the convention and what was being said on stage.
Jones started off slow by stating, “I feel that what's happening right now is the opposite of positive.” He was absolutely shocked that the GOP would talk about people who were killed by illegal immigrants. “I think taking that approach is very very dangerous,” he warned, saying they were painting folks with a broad brush. And as would be expected Jones used the classic racist tag on the speakers, “That is the definition of bigotry.”
But Jones’ fellow panelists didn’t let him get away with it. Author S.E. Cupp countered Jones’ representation of the convention by reminding folks of the Democrats’ exploitation of Cindy Sheehan, who protested President George W. Bush after her son was killed in Iraq:
And I think, everyone remembers Cindy Sheehan, and how she was used by Democrats, at conventions to get people elected, and MoveOn.org, Code Pink. I mean, this is what happens when serious issues are being discussed and debated. And when people are trying to convince voters to move in a certain direction. This has not been a hate-fest. Even by Donald Trump’s standards.
Jones may not have a problem with the Democrats’ use of Sheehan but he was “very uncomfortable” with the speech given by Patricia Smith, whose son was killed in the Benghazi attack. “I worry about exploiting grief,” he said, while claiming he prays, “she can find some peace and that we don't politicize her pain.”