Van Jones: Young People Are Upset with Biden and ‘It’s Not Just the Situation in Gaza,’ the Economic Prospects ‘Are Miserable’

BERMAN: “All right. With me now CNN Senior Political Commentator Van Jones and Republican Strategist Matt Gorman making his debut on the morning edition of ‘CNN NEWS CENTRAL.’ Matt, it’s taking you so long to come on, I’m going to make you wait. So this first question is for you, Van. That poll from ‘The New York Times,’ let me read you, Van, a section of their write up there. It says, ‘Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden are essentially tied among 18-to-29-year-olds and Hispanic voters, even though each group gave Mr. Biden more than 60 percent0 of their vote in 2020. Mr. Trump also wins more than 20 percent of black voters — a tally that would be the highest level of black support for any Republican presidential candidate since the enactment of the Civil Rights Act in 1964.’ That’s some paragraph about swing state polls a few months before the election, Van.”
Jones: “Yeah. I mean, it’s — it should be a wake up call. Young people are upset. And it’s not just the situation in Gaza. The economic prospects for young people are miserable. It’s not — and that’s been building under Obama, it’s been building under Trump, it’s building under Biden, we just do not have a pathway for young people to be able to pay off their student debt, get a house. People are looking at this AI wave and are worried about what job, what career path. And so that pain has to be spoken to directly and specifically, and I think that we’re not — we’re not yet feeling — hearing a full throated approach to the young people. There’s a symbolic piece around student loans, that’s not going to be enough for Joe Biden.”
BERMAN: “Very quickly, Van because I want — do want to get to Matt here who’s been waiting patiently. What has Biden done right and done wrong so far in your mind to address this group?”
Jones: “Well, I mean, look, this is what Harry said, the way I translate what Harry says, is, Detroit’s going to matter a lot, and Michigan, Pennsylvania is going to matter a lot, and Wisconsin — I mean, Milwaukee is going to matter a lot. In other words, those core black cities in the those swing states in the Great Lakes area, they’re going to matter a bunch. And you’re going to have to — it’s not just about the messaging, people have so much stock on. Well, what’s Biden going to say? What’s his ad going to be? You’ve got to get at the grassroots level in those core black cities and make sure that people are heard from by surrogates, heard from by — by the campaign and responded to. It’s going to be a pitch on the ground battle in those Great Lakes states, in those black cities. And that’s where you’ve got to go.”