A somber Van Jones expressed sympathy for Donald Trump, saying that he didn’t “take joy” in the previous president’s indictment as he entered a Manhattan courtroom for his arraignment on Tuesday.
“He looks sad,” CNN’s Jones said during a panel discussion that coincided with the cable news network’s live coverage of Trump’s arraignment.
“He looks like the burden of it’s hitting him,” Jones, a former Obama administration official, added.
Despite his partisan Democratic leanings, Jones said on the air on Tuesday that the historic, precedent-setting indictment of the forty fifth president was not a cause for celebration.
“Just as a human being, I don’t take joy [in Trump’s indictment],” Jones, a vocal advocate for prison reform, added.
“I don’t just like the prison system,” he said.
“I don’t like what it does to people. I don’t like this process.”
Van Jones on Trump’s arrest: ‘He looks sad … I do not like the prison system, so I do not like this process … does not imply that accountability shouldn’t be owed, but that could be a granddad having a really bad day.’ pic.twitter.com/exs1tw0Eec
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) April 4, 2023
“So I don’t take any celebration in seeing him looking that way,” Jones said of Trump, adding, “It doesn’t mean accountability shouldn’t be owed.”
“But at that moment, that shouldn’t be a conqueror,” Jones said of Trump.
“That may be a granddad having a really bad day.”
CNN’s Van Jones expressed sympathy for former President Donald Trump on Tuesday.CNN
Jones’ comments sparked a backlash amongst anti-Trump Twitter users.
Follow The Post’s latest coverage on Trump’s indictment
“True or False: Van Jones gets invited to the Trump family Zoom meetings more often than Tiffany,” tweeted MSNBC commentator Elie Mystal.
One other Twitter user wrote: “As a community, we want to prepare how and when to tug up on Van Jones. I needed to turn off CNN.
“He kept attempting to make Trump a victim of an unjust court system.”
“I can’t stand Van Jones jive turkey ass,” one other Twitter user commented.
Trump on Tuesday pleaded not guilty in Manhattan court to a 34-count indictment.Paul Martinka
Jones has caught flack in years past for being complimentary toward Trump.
During a 2021 appearance on ABC’s “The View,” Jones was criticized by co-hosts Sunny Hostin, Ana Navarro, and Joy Behar for posing with commentator Candace Owens for a selfie.
Jones has also praised Trump prior to now for signing into law a jail reform bill that he helped craft, the First Step Act.
Trump is seen above in a Manhattan courtroom. His indictment is the primary time in US history that a former president was hit with criminal charges.Steven Hirsch for NY Post
Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records tied to the Stormy Daniels hush-money payment.
Trump, 76, was pictured along with his shoulders barely hunched as he took his seat on the defendant’s table in Manhattan Supreme Court ahead of his historic arraignment.