CNN’s Van Jones Praises DeSantis for ‘Very Smart’ Crack About Elon Musk and African-Americans: ‘Learned a Lot From Trump’

CNN commentator Van Jones praised Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for a wisecrack about Elon Musk and African-American voters, saying DeSantis “learned a lot from Trump.”

On Thursday morning’s edition of CNN’s New Day, co-anchors Brianna Keilar and John Berman wound up their panel discussion with Jones by asking him about DeSantis’s response when he was asked about Musk’s expression of possible support in the 2024 election.

All were clearly amused by DeSantis’s quip, and Jones praised the “very smart” moment as an example of a lesson learned from potential 2024 DeSantis rival former President Donald Trump:

BRIANNA KEILAR: The most interesting rivalry is shaping up on the right when it comes to a potential 2024 race between former President Trump and current governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis. Ron DeSantis just had an interesting moment where billionaire Elon Musk talked about potentially supporting him for president, and this is how DeSantis responded.

GOV. DESANTIS: (video clip) Elon Musk. So what I would say, you know, I’m focused on 2022. But with Elon Musk, what I would say is, you know, I welcome support from African-Americans. What can I say?

BRIANNA KEILAR: That might have gone over the head of some people. But he was, is from South Africa.

VAN JONES: Yeah. People, again, people assume that everybody from Africa is Black. Elon Musk is a white South African who came to United States. So he’s, he’s kind of teasing. But what he’s really doing is keeping that story in the news cycle. This guy is very, very smart about keeping us talking about him, DeSantis. And when the richest guy in the world says something about you and then you say something funny, it keeps his name in the news cycle. This guy’s learned a lot from Donald Trump.

JOHN BERMAN: It’s exactly what I thought when I saw that, right? There. Very interesting. Van Jones, great to have you here.

Watch above via CNN.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!