CNN political commentator Van Jones called it "cringey" Monday night after watching four Black Republicans take prime-time slots at the Republican National Convention.
Four Black men — including North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Reps. Wesley Hunt of Texas and John James of Michigan — talked up former President Donald Trump on the first day of the convention, with Robinson calling Trump the "Braveheart of our time."
Jones said he believes the party has an agenda to attract more Black men, explaining the move.
"There's an opening to get Black men," he said with a laugh, "because of the double-whammy with Black men feeling the economic pain seriously and also feeling some social dislocation with when it comes to gender and feminism and what's going on."
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"But this is not it, I'm going to tell you right now," he emphasized. "All four of them sounded like Black people who talk about Black people, but don't talk to Black people. That's how they sounded. My phone's blowing up because it felt so off — it felt so off — in terms of the tone."
Jones blasted Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina for saying "with glee" that thousands of Black children are dying in Chicago.
"You don't say that Black children can't read, the way that James did," said Jones. "And that there's a time where you could go back to when zip codes didn't matter. We've never had that time in America. Those guys sound like people who talk about Black people, not to Black people."
