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Van Jones wrote about the Democratic Party this weekend, "I'm tired of being told that to be a progressive, I now must swear allegiance to crazy ideas. I'm a strong Democrat with a winning bipartisan track record. I'm rooted in progressive ideals and policies, criminal justice reform, Green New Deal, Medicare for all, free education, clean air and water. Those are ideas I fought for my entire life. But some people in groups like the DSA are pushing an agenda far outside those ideals. Supporting Hamas is not progressive. No police, no prisons, no borders is not progressive. Celebrating the murder of Israeli civilians is not progressive. These ideas are REGRESSIVE."
On CNN Monday night, he explained why he won't let the DSA take over the Democratic Party.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN: So, Van, your post struck a nerve, right? We saw it strike a nerve on Fox News. I saw it strike a nerve. among many on the left....
GRETCHEN CARLSON, FORMER FOX NEWS HOST: This was necessary. Epecially from your voice. Now, I'm going to let you respond first because this is about you, and then I can pick up.
VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you. Well, listen, I-- cannot tell you, this phone has been blowing up all day. Governors from both parties, senators from both parties, Democrats in the House calling, thanking me for saying what everybody's been saying behind the scenes, which is that this stuff is going too far.
I am a progressive Democrat. You want to talk about prison reform? I've done it as well as anybody, Republican, Democrats in the South with Trump. I've done prison reform. I never said, have no prisons. Where are you going to put the Klan? I've done police reform. I never said no police. Where are you going to put the pedophiles? Who's going to grab the pedophiles?
This stuff is going too far. And part of the thing that has to happen is, we saw what happened in the Republican Party when things started going in a nutty direction and nobody stood up. I am happy that the young people are fighting for affordability, Medicare for all, all the good things. I've been waiting my whole life to see a youth movement do what it's doing.
But it's being hijacked by people who are putting in nutty ideas, supporting terrorists. Nutty ideas saying we don't need cops in prison.
We can't deport anybody, even if they rape somebody. Who said this? Chevalier. Where did Chevalier --
BURNETT: Chevalier is going to -- is the Democratic nominee -- sorry, DSA nominee for Congress now from the Bronx in New York.
JONES: Yes. I just want to say that there was a shockwave through this party when Mamdani, who everybody's excited about, stabbed in the back, Espaillat, who was the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, beloved by everybody, who backed Mamdani.
Mamdani said, "I will back you." Then he turns around, stabs him in the back and backed Chevalier, who has no credentials except she's known for having celebrated October 7th murders of Israelis on October 8th and never apologized.
This sent a shockwave through the party. People said, hold on a second. Why, of all the people in New York City, would Mamdani pick this person to betray someone? And then no one says anything.
...
CARLSON: And look at the movement that's been created. It's what the media is talking about. And it's not just in New York. We're talking about Michigan now. We're talking about Colorado.
We're talking about a bunch of other states where this movement is going on. And I think it was so important that Van Jones said this, because, quite honestly, you were thought of as way over on the left.
JONES: I am! I'm just not crazy.
CARLSON: I know! Well, and so it's very important for him, in my mind, to point out that this is a very dangerous, slippery slope. And from an independent point of view, where the majority of Americans are sitting, they're scared to death of this movement. They're not going to vote for it.
And by the way, I've talked to a lot of Democrats over the last couple of weeks. They are begging people to get out in the primaries for the regular Democrat to vote.
BURNETT: Okay, but where do people like AOC, who is being talked about now, frequently in presidential circles, who is very progressive, maybe even more progressive than you are, and has been in all of these circles. Where does she land on this?
JONES: Well, look, I'll let her speak for herself. I haven't heard her coming out and supporting Hamas. Chevalier, Mamdani's pick, refused to denounce Hamas four times. It's a U.S. registered terrorist organization. I haven't heard AOC saying that if someone raped someone and murdered someone, they shouldn't be deported. That's -- Mamdani has picked a candidate that that's her position.
I want this party to get behind the good things that are coming up from the young people. These young people are fighting. They have no opportunities. They've been lied to. They took college debt. They need a change. They deserve a change.
BURNETT: You're talking about health care and affordability.
JONES: I'm talking about health care, affordability, all these different positive things that they're doing. But if we can't say right from wrong, if we can't say good from bad, if we can't separate progressive ideas from regressive ideas, we're going down the same pathway that has pulled the Republican Party into an unrecognizable shell of itself.
And I refuse to let that happen to them.
