CNN’s Van Jones broke into tears on Sunday as he delivered an emotional reaction to the news that President Joe Biden was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race.
The senior political commentator said he was heartbroken over the decision and compared the Democrats’ situation to taking the car keys away from a relative who has become too old to drive.
“He’s fighting and he’s fighting and everybody’s so frustrated. And then you finally get the keys back. And then you just cry,” Jones said on the verge of breaking down live on TV.
“Because this is somebody that you love. This is somebody that you care about,” the former Obama adviser added.
“This is somebody who was there for you. This is somebody you wouldn’t be here without him. And you had to take something from him.”
Jones slammed the recent media coverage that he claimed has painted Biden as “some problem for the party.”
“I don’t know anything about politics. I just know that I love this man, I care about this man,” he said.
Along with Jones, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), also appeared distraught over the news live on the air, with the co-chair for the Biden-Harris campaign breaking down on CBS.
“The folks in Delaware who’ve been texting me and calling me in the last few hours, all want me to say to Joe Biden, how much we love him, how much we admire and respect his service and how grateful we all are for the decisions he’s made over decades in his service and his tireless loyalty to our home state of Delaware,” Coons said as he stopped to sob for a few seconds before composing himself.
“He is the greatest Delawarean in our history and the fact that he has chosen to be grounded in our community, in our parish, in our parishes, in the traditions and history of bipartisanship and of respecting each other and of being compassionate and decent,” he added.
The latest on President Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race:
- Biden drops out of presidential race after Democratic revolt following disastrous debate: ‘Best interest of the country’
- Biden drops out of presidential race: live updates
- Trump slams Biden as ‘worst president in history’ after incumbent drops re-election bid
- Biden offers ‘full endorsement’ of Kamala Harris as 2024 Democratic nominee after dropping out
- A look back at Biden’s more than 50-year career in politics
MSNBC anchor Jen Psaki also appeared taken aback by her former boss’s decision.
“I am digesting this myself here, because I worked for him for a year and a half, and he is a remarkable person, a remarkable president.” the former press secretary as she broke the news during Sunday’s edition of “Inside with Jen Psaki.”
Before Psaki read Biden’s letter, she could be heard stuttering and pausing before going into the details, with the MSNBC anchor later noting on X that the news caught everyone off guard.
“There’s very little indication from people close to him and many people in the campaign that this was about to happen, as much as there were reports of Democrats calling on him to do that,” she wrote.
What to know about President Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race:
- President Biden announced Sunday he is dropping out of the 2024 presidential race — after weeks of prominent Democrats and donors calling on him to withdraw following his disastrous performance in the first presidential debate.
- In a letter posted on X Sunday afternoon, Biden admitted that it is in the “best interest of my party and country” for him to step down as the Democratic nominee.
- Biden wrote that he intends to serve out the remainder of his term and will address the country on his decision later this week.
- In a follow-up X post, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the suddenly open Democratic nomination. “Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year,” the president wrote.
- Former President Donald Trump reacted to the news by labeling Biden the “worst president in the history of our country” in a call with CNN.
Biden’s sudden announcement has not only thrown Democrat’s plans into chaos, but it also upended CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer’s Sunday afternoon.
Blitzer could be seen in an X post ordering a signature “Wolf Spritzer” cocktail at the El Presidente restaurant in Washington DC at around 12:57 p.m. before he was forced to return to the CNN newsroom just a few hours later to discuss Biden’s drop out.
Many sympathetic journalists shared memes of the CNN mainstay’s dour face after being forced to broadcast yet another momentous news moment on his day off.