CNN's Trump Apologist Get Schooled On Trump's Relationship With White Nationalists

Van Jones To Jeffrey Lord: There Is A “Dark Underside Here” And Trump Is “Tapping Into ... [Something] Very Frightening To Me And Frightening To A Lot Of People”

From the March 1 edition of CNN's America's Choice 2016: Super Tuesday:

Video file

JEFFREY LORD: Let's talk about what [Trump] said about the Klan. Here's a guy who disavowed this many, many, many times. You hear this statement from Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan today. I like Paul Ryan. We both worked for Jack Kemp. Jack Kemp would be appalled at this. I hate to say this about the Republican establishment but their view of civil rights is to tip the black waiter five bucks at the country club. This is atrocious. This is atrocious. This is why Donald Trump has the ability -- because he's not going to patronize people.

VAN JONES: Well hold on a second. First of all, there's a lot of things you said that I could take you on about. But I want to be very, very clear. The things that Donald Trump has done and not just in this race are horribly offensive. You can go back with this guy for a long time -- I want to talk. I want to talk. Because this is important.

LORD: I didn't say anything yet.

JONES: You breathed. You can go back to the central jogger case where he came out and had innocent black kids winding up in prison.

LORD: No, innocent kids.

JONES: Hold on a sec -- Innocent black kids. Listen, hold on a second. We have a big problem at this point now. Because I agree with you about a lot. I think we have taken him not seriously, we have not respected his voters, but there is a dark underside here and S.E. is right. He is whipping up and tapping into and pushing buttons that are very, very frightening to me and frightening to a lot of people. Number one, when he is playing funny with the Klan, that is not cool.

LORD: He didn't play funny with the Klan.

JONES: Hold on a second. I know this man when he gets passionate about terrorism. I know how he talks about terrorism. The Klan is a terrorist organization that has killed --

LORD: A leftist terrorist organization.

JONES: You can put whatever label you want, that's your game to play.

LORD: No, it's important to history.

JONES: We're not going to play that game.

LORD:: We're going to understand history.

JONES: No, you need to take a serious look at the fact that this man has been playing fast and loose and footsie -- when you talk about terrorism, he gets passionate. He says no, this is wrong. But when you talk about the Klan, oh, I don't know, I don't know. That's wrong. And then you came on the air and you said, well this is just like when Reverend Wright was speaking. Reverend Wright never lynched anybody, Reverend Wright never killed anybody.

LORD: Reverend Wright is an anti-Semite.

JONES: Reverend Wright never put anybody on a post. And you guys play these word games and it's wrong to do in America.

Previously

CNN's John Avlon Calls Out Jeffrey Lord For Defending Trump's Initial Refusal To Disavow KKK

CNN's Jeffrey Lord Defends Trump's Refusal To Disavow KKK By Claiming It Is “A Function Of The Left”

Jeffrey Lord Is CNN's On-Staff Donald Trump Apologist Who Carries His “Fetid Water Every Day”