As Donald Trump inches closer to assuming the role of president of the United States, Hillary Clinton supporters and pundits alike are reeling, trying to figure out what went wrong.
Van Jones, a CNN commentator and attorney, attempted to explain the election results. He blames a country unable to process how its values are changing—eight years of the first black president followed by the possibility of a woman assuming the role.
“We’ve talked about everything but race tonight,” he said. “This was a whitelash. This was a whitelash against a changing country. It was a whitelash against a black president in part. And that’s the part where the pain comes.”
Here were his full comments during the segment:
You tell your kids don’t be a bully, you tell your kids don’t be a bigot, you tell your kids do you homework, and be prepared. And then you have this outcome, and you have people putting their kids to bed tonight, and they’re afraid of breakfast. They’re afraid of, “How do I explain this to my children. I have Muslim friends who are texting me tonight saying, “Should I leave the country?
I have families of immigrants who are terrified tonight. This was many things—this was a rebellion against the elites, true, this was a reinvention of politics and polls, it’s true. But it was also something else. We’ve talked about everything but race tonight. We’ve talked about income, we’ve talked about class, we’ve talked about region, we haven’t talked about race. This was a whitelash. This was a whitelash against a changing country. It was a whitelash against a black president in part. And that’s the part where the pain comes.”
The speech didn’t go unnoticed. Chance the Rapper, who has been a vocal Hillary Clinton supporter, tweeted to implore his fans to watch the video.
At time of publication, the election is still undecided.