Charlamagne tha God made Van Jones The Breakfast Club’s “Donkey of the Day” on Wednesday, denouncing the CNN commentator’s take on New York Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory speech.
Jones criticized Mamdani’s speech as divisive on air Tuesday evening, arguing that he “missed an opportunity” to “bring more people into the tent.”
“The Mamdani that we saw on the campaign trail, who was a lot more calm, who was a lot warmer, who was a lot more embracing, was not present in that speech,” Jones remarked. “I think he was using the microphone in a way that he was almost yelling, and that’s not the Mamdani that we’ve seen on TikTok and the great interviews and stuff like that. I felt like there’s a little bit of a character switch.”
“Man, shut the f up forever, OK? Damn,” Charlamagne scoffed at Jones Wednesday morning. “I just don’t understand how in the era of Trump, we’re still telling people how to talk. The language of politics is dead—and Donald Trump killed it.”
Mamdani’s impassioned speech to New Yorkers touched on a variety of issues facing multiple groups within the city’s working class. “Safety and justice will go hand in hand as we work with police officers to reduce crime and create a department of community safety that tackles the mental health crisis and homelessness crisis head on,” Mamdani said.
“We believe in standing up for those we love. Whether you are an immigrant, a member of the trans community, one of the many black women that Donald Trump has fired from a federal job, a single mom still waiting for the cost of groceries to go down, or anyone else with their back against the wall. Your struggle is ours, too.”
He added, “And we will build a city hall that stands steadfast alongside Jewish New Yorkers and does not waver in the fight against the scourge of anti-semitism where the more than one million Muslims know that they belong not just in the five boroughs of this city but in the halls of power.”
“There was no opportunity missed,” Charlemagne said, as Mamdani “let people know he will be a mayor for all New Yorkers, but Van Jones didn’t like that. He thought it was divisive,” Charlamagne went on. “The man just won. After you won, yes, you’re going to celebrate. Yes, you’re going to talk loud. What do you mean he wasn’t warm enough? He took a victory lap and he deserved to take a victory lap because he won.”
Charlamagne’s guest, ex-MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan, also slammed Jones, saying, “Jared Kushner’s pal wasn’t a fan of Zoran Mamdani’s anti-oligarchy, anti-Trump speech. I’m shocked.”
“I would remind people that Van Jones in 2017 is the guy who gave us the most famous line of the first Trump administration. Remember when Trump gave that speech in Congress? Van Jones went on CNN said, ‘Tonight, he became president of the United States,’” Hasan explained.
Van Jones on Trump honoring a Navy SEAL’s widow: “He became President of the United States in that moment, period” https://t.co/Q4BhK1OpbR pic.twitter.com/52pLrT1CgR
— CNN (@CNN) March 1, 2017
“That was one of the most extraordinary moments you have ever seen in American politics, period,” Jones said at the time, following the then-first-term president’s remarks honoring a Navy SEAL‘s widow in 2017. “And for people who have been hoping that he would become unifying, hoping that he might find some way to become presidential, they should be happy with that moment.”
Hasan concluded Wednesday, “So Van Jones thinks that Donald Trump gives unifying speeches that make him president, but thinks Zohran Mamdani, who’s united a multi-racial, multicultural, multi-income coalition, is divisive. That tells you more about Van Jones than it does tell you about Zohran Mamdani.”
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