Van Jones Praises Tom Steyer for Debate Performance: He’s the ‘Real Deal, and It Shows’

During a panel discussion analyzing tonight’s Democratic primary debate in New Hampshire, CNN commentator Van Jones offered serious praise for hedge fund manager Tom Steyer, calling him “the real deal.”

In response to a comment by host Chris Cuomo about the Democratic debates “getting caught in a loop” of discussing the same policy issues that were not top priorities of voters, Jones highlighted Steyer’s “brilliant” answer taking the focus back to beating President Donald Trump.

I thought Steyer was brilliant in that moment. After another 17 minutes of the same conversation we have every debate, he just said enough. This is not — this is irrelevant. How do we beat Trump. He did that twice. And he was trending on Twitter…I thought it was really important…

This is about Donald Trump. This is about how you stop Donald Trump and how you beat Donald Trump. And he was trying to make the argument that it’s the economy, stupid. I thought that was a really great moment for him, and it was the first time you saw him take up all this space.

Jones continued that while people may be wondering how Steyer, a billionaire who is self-funding his campaign, managed to attract enough support to earn his spot on the debate stage, his “commitment to racial justice and social justice” went back years, as did his work reinvesting his money in local communities.

To your point, you might think why is he up there? He thinks he has a shot. He thinks he can surprise people in South Carolina with his black support. By the way, most people don’t know Tom Steyer. I have known Tom Steyer 15 years. His commitment on racial justice and social justice is rock solid. As soon as he made his money he turned to putting his money behind causes, he built a bank to help people. He’s the real deal, and it shows. His numbers show that in South Carolina.

Watch above, via CNN.