On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” CNN Political Commentator and former Obama Adviser Van Jones stated that while there isn’t any excuse for some of the recent actions and irresponsible statements of CEO Elon Musk, “if progressives have a politics that says, all white people are racist, all men are toxic, and all billionaires are evil, it’s kind of hard to keep them on your side. And so, we might want to think about, if you’re chasing people out of the party, you can’t be mad when they leave.”
Jones said, “It’s sad that we lost Elon Musk, and I want to point out, four years ago, Elon Musk was an Andrew Yang Democrat. … He’s done great stuff when it comes to climate, when it comes to space, etc.”
Host Bill Maher acknowledged that Musk was a Democrat, but also stated that the current Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump was also a Democrat once, which Jones acknowledged.
Jones continued, “I just wonder if we look back on this period — there’s no excuse for the stuff that Elon Musk is doing, the stuff he says, he’s irresponsible — but if progressives have a politics that says, all white people are racist, all men are toxic, and all billionaires are evil, it’s kind of hard to keep them on your side. And so, we might want to think about, if you’re chasing people out of the party, you can’t be mad when they leave. And maybe if we had a different politics, where we actually said, dignity for everybody, everybody’s respected, and we need you, more people might stay.”
Maher agreed with Jones.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D), who is also a Harris surrogate, but was appearing in his personal capacity, responded, “[O]n issues that Elon Musk talks about, he’s a free-market capitalist. I’m a free-market capitalist. He supports…free speech. I support free speech. So do Democrats. I think he has, sadly, Bill, bought into this perception of what far-right people think Democrats believe, rather than what Democrats actually believe and do when we have the opportunity to govern.”
Jones agreed with that point.
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