Anderson Cooper, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Van Jones appeared on CNN’s AC360° broadcast Thursday afternoon to pat the Democrats on the back for a successful PR event, but Jones’ comments on the economy near the end of the broadcast are out-of-touch at best, and genuinely alarming at worst.
3.28.24 830 pm ET CNN Anchor @andersoncooper w/
CNN Political Commentators
Alyssa Farah Griffin @Alyssafarah
Van Jones @VanJones68Great Segment 10 + pic.twitter.com/vB4gB5L94H
— Jeff Storobinsky (@jeffstorobinsky) March 29, 2024
The hosts spent most of the show talking about the success of President Joe Biden’s New York City fundraiser earlier that day, which featured former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
While Biden far outstrips his opponent, former President Donald Trump, in terms of funding, Griffin pointed out during the show that funding isn’t everything, bringing up the fact that Trump beat his opponent Hillary Clinton in 2016, despite a huge difference in spending.
Cooper and his guests then discussed Biden’s abysmally low approval ratings among Americans, especially in the categories of crime, immigration, and economics.
Jones felt the reason why was simple: Americans’ silly, emotional, day-to-day concerns like food, safety and housing are obfuscating the fact that the country is actually doing great.
“I think that reality — actual reality and emotional reality have not lined up for Biden on a number of issues. The economy, actually, on paper, is doing a lot better than people think. Unemployment is down, gas prices are relatively low, stock market’s up, a lot of things that have — should have people feeling good,” Jones said on the show.
He continued, “Food prices being sticky at the top, housing prices being sticky at the top, make people feel the whole thing is terrible. Crime has been coming back down. But a few sensational instances make people feel we’re all unsafe. And so, there’s an emotional reality and an actual reality that have not lined up for Biden yet. And it’s going to be job one for him to get those things lined up.”
If the economy is looking good on paper, a lot more papers need to be written by Americans living paycheck to paycheck. Jones’ suggestion that Biden simply needs to educate people about the fact that their struggles to pay their mortgages don’t reflect “actual reality” is frankly ridiculous.
CNN even admits that inflation is on even their own voters’ minds, reporting on middle-class Americans’ struggles to pay groceries and mortgages.
Sure it’s hard for wealthy political commentators to realize that the price of milk is more important to the average voter than the price of Microsoft stock, but it’s harder for voters to pay the bills, and Biden’s approval ratings reflect that. Maybe Jones needs to come and experience some “actual reality” for himself.
