On Tuesday morning, as CNN previewed the day's elections Virginia and Kentucky, no Republicans were included in the discussion as Democrat and liberal CNN contributor Van Jones proclaimed it would be a "nightmare" if Republicans won state legislative elections in Virginia. He also threw shade at the GOP's nominee for governor in Kentucky, Daniel Cameron, proclaiming that "all the black people are mad at" him.
After CNN political analyst Maggie Haberman predicted that Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) would likely refuse to jump into the presidential race even if donors pressured him to do so, Jones fretted over the possibility of Republicans winning in Virginia:
But what could happen is a nightmare for women. When you have one-party GOP control these days -- no matter how moderate a Youngkin appears -- once you have one-party control in these states, they lurch way right on everything. And so, you know, right now in Virginia, people will have to make a decision, you know. They say 15 weeks -- fine. But on every other issue, it's going to get worse and worse, and more and more conservative. And so Youngkin is a smart guy -- he's not going to jump into this thing. Trump is a runaway train. That's the fantasy -- it's a fairytale. But the nightmare is for women in that state.
CNN This Morning Co-anchor Poppy Harlow then brought up Governor Andy Beshear (D-KY) and his chances of reelection: "What about Andy Beshear? Popular -- very popular Democratic governor in a very red state. Can he hang on?"
Jones went negative on Cameron as he responded:
He might be able to mainly because you got a black guy running for governor that all the black people are mad at because, you know, you got -- you got Cameron who was on the wrong side of every police reform issue -- he was on the wrong side of a black woman who was killed in her bed by police. He's never done anything about any of those type of issues, and so you have a doubly motivated African American community. They really like one candidate, and they really don't like Cameron.
This one-sided preview of the day's elections was sponsored in part by Etsy and Liberty Mutual. Their contact information is linked.
Transcript follows:
CNN This Morning
November 7, 2023
7:03 a.m. Eastern
MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: He's term-limited in Virginia -- he can't run again. You know, there are a number of -- again, a number of Republicans who would like to see this happen. If you're Glenn Youngkin and you're looking at Donald Trump's lead, and you're looking at whether, you know, Ron DeSantis can get some traction after Kim Reynolds, the Iowa governor, endorsed him, I don't think that you necessarily make the calculation that diving in headfirst is the best choice, but we'll see.
POPPY HARLOW: And you're young. You can wait.
HABERMAN: And you're wealthy and you can wait.
HARLOW: Yeah, good point.
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, it's somewhere between a fantasy and a fairytale. I mean, it's not going to happen. But what could happen is a nightmare for women. When you have one-party GOP control these days -- no matter how moderate a Youngkin appears -- once you have one-party control in these states, they lurch way right on everything. And so, you know, right now in Virginia, people will have to make a decision, you know. They say 15 weeks -- fine. But on every other issue, it's going to get worse and worse, and more and more conservative. And so Youngkin is a smart guy -- he's not going to jump into this thing. Trump is a runaway train. That's the fantasy -- it's a fairytale. But the nightmare is for women in that state.
HARLOW: What about Andy Beshear? Popular -- very popular Democratic governor in a very red state. Can he hang on?
JONES: He might be able to mainly because you got a black guy running for governor that all the black people are mad at because, you know, you got -- you got Cameron who was on the wrong side of every police reform issue -- he was on the wrong side of a black woman who was killed in her bed by police. He's never done anything about any of those type of issues, and so you have a doubly motivated African American community. They really like one candidate, and they really don't like Cameron.
