News and Commentary

WATCH: Van Jones Talks About Surprising Bipartisan Nature Of Working With Trump, Kushner On Prison Reform Bill

   DailyWire.com

On Wednesday, Van Jones appeared on CNN to discuss his meeting with the Trump administration regarding prison reform.

Before speaking with Jones, anchor Brooke Baldwin explained in brief what the “First Step” bill seeks to accomplish, noting that it passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday. She then played a clip in which President Trump thanks Jones, and says, “When we talk about out national program to hire American, this must include helping millions of former inmates get back into the workforce as gainfully employed citizens.”

Jones first talked about how rare such a bill is, considering it passed the House in a bipartisan manner:

The First Step Act passed – landslide, bipartisan. Trump supported the bill; Nancy Pelosi voted for the bill; Jared Kushner supported the bill; Hakeem Jeffries supported the bill. So, for once in this entire national nightmare of dysfunction and fighting about everything, there was a bipartisan breakthrough in the House of Representatives to help the least of these, to help people who are suffering behind prison bars.

Jones added, “And a lot of liberals [say], ‘Van Jones, what are you doing? How can you sit down and talk with the Trump administration?’ because I’ve been so tough on them. … I said, ‘There’s 200,000 prisoners in the palm of their hand, and I don’t think that they would appreciate us refusing to go and sit down and talk about how to make their lives better.'”

Jones then expanded a bit on the nature of the First Step Act, stressing again how rare the accomplishment was. Of course, Jones had to riff on the fact that this isn’t “tax breaks to rich people,” but something that will help “the least of these have better lives.”

Baldwin noted that the bill does indeed have its critics in the Democratic Party — namely Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Kamala Harris (D-CA). To that, Van Jones said:

I agree [with critics that] it didn’t go far enough. The problem is though, if you hold out for everything, sometimes you get nothing. Now, [under] the Obama administration, we held out for everything, and we wound up with nothing. … I think you’re seeing a new moment, Brooke, where, at least for the people who are suffering the most — the addicted, the convicted — people are beginning to be willing to put some things aside to get some thing done — and that’s a good thing. No bill is perfect, but this bill is a bill that will do a lot of good.

Finally, Baldwin asked: “What has it been like working with Jared Kushner?”

Jones replied:

You know, I’ll put it this way. I’ll quote my friend Jay-Z — we got 99 conflicts, but prisons ain’t one. Okay? I disagree with Jared Kushner and the Trumps on so many things, but here’s the deal — it was a moral dilemma for me, Brooke. If I disagree with you on 99 issues that are important to me … but on one thing I agree with you, should I do nothing? Should I do not one thing to try to help people who don’t have voices? And I said to myself, you know what, I’ve got to at least try.

And I think that at the end of the day, what we’re gonna learn about this country is that where we disagree, we’re supposed to fight, and fight hard. But let’s not forget, where we agree, we’re supposed to work together, and work together hard.

Got a tip worth investigating?

Your information could be the missing piece to an important story. Submit your tip today and make a difference.

Submit Tip
The Daily Wire   >  Read   >  WATCH: Van Jones Talks About Surprising Bipartisan Nature Of Working With Trump, Kushner On Prison Reform Bill