Van Jones Tells Progressives: ‘Quit Pooping in the Kool-Aid Bowl And Telling Us That the Turds Are Ice Cubes’

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Longtime CNN political commentator Van Jones has had enough of progressives shoving “crazy ideas” down Democrats’ throats.

Van Jones let it all hang out on his Substack Saturday, posting a lengthy message in which he slammed left-wing activists as “party poopers” who were “pooping in the Kool-Aid bowl and telling us that the turds are ice cubes.”

I’m tired of being told that, to be a progressive, I now must swear allegiance to crazy ideas.

I’m a strong Democrat, with a winning bipartisan track record. I’m rooted in progressive ideals and policies: criminal justice reform, Green New Deal, Medicare for All, free education,… pic.twitter.com/foPRXip7fb

— Van Jones (@VanJones68) July 18, 2026

“Supporting Hamas is not progressive. ‘No police, no prisons, no borders’ is not progressive. Celebrating the murder of Israeli civilians is not progressive. These ideas are REGRESSIVE,” Jones insisted.

The rant comes as Democratic Socialist candidates have had recent election victories in New York City and Colorado, where Melat Kiros recently ousted 15-term incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO).

“I am tired of a set of people on the very far left in the Democratic party, my party, telling us that in order for us to be progressives that we now have to believe ideas and support ideas that are completely nuts,” he said.

“I am a progressive Democrat,” Jones declared, outlining a set of priorities including universal health care, free education, the Green New Deal, and the environment as “our ideals as progressives.”

He then slammed ideas put forth by some socialists, including that “we can’t deport anybody even if they commit rape and murder, Israel shouldn’t exist — these are terrible ideas. These are awful ideas. Where did these ideas even come from?

“If we want people to join this party — when people come to the party you want to give them a wonderful punchbowl, of ideas like this,” he said.

“Who is putting the poop in the punch bowl? Why are these ideas in our punch bowl?” he asked.

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