CNN analysts erupt into a fiery debate over Donald Trump and the KKK

CNN analysts clash over Trump and the KKK — (Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube)

A discussion between Donald Trump supporter Jeffrey Lord and Democratic analyst Van Jones escalated quickly Tuesday, with the men ultimately shouting at each other about the KKK, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and race in America.

Jones said that Trump's success has a "dark underside," and the Republican frontrunner has been "whipping up and tapping into and pushing buttons that are very frightening to me and to a lot of people." Trump, he continued, always takes a hard line when it comes to Islamic terrorists, but is "playing funny with the Klan. That's not cool." Lord interjected to call the KKK a "leftist terrorist organization" that served as the "military arm, the terrorist arm, of the Democratic Party, according to historians."

"We're not going to play that game," Jones retorted, saying this isn't the "Democratic Party of today, so why are you bringing that up now?" He admonished Lord to "take a serious look at the fact that this man has been playing fast and loose and footsie. When he starts talking about terrorism, he gets passionate. He says, 'No, this is wrong.' But when you talk about the Klan, 'Oh, I don't know, I don't know.' That's wrong." Jones called Lord out for previously saying this was "just like when Rev. Wright was speaking. Rev. Wright never lynched anybody, Rev. Wright never killed anybody, Rev. Wright never put somebody on a post. You guys play these word games, and it's wrong."

Article continues below

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Lord accused Jones and liberalism as a whole of "dividing people by race," and said "we have to be passionate about making this country color blind." Bringing up a quote by President Kennedy, Lord continued: "Race has no place in American life or law, and that's what we have to do. We have lost that totally because the Democratic Party insists on dividing people by race. It's wrong, it's morally wrong." Watch the video below. Catherine Garcia

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.