CNN’s Van Jones appeared visibly stunned during a recent segment filmed in South Carolina, where he sat down with three black voters who had backed Donald Trump in 2024 — and still stand firmly behind their decision.
“You weren’t always a Republican,” Jones pointed out to Seth Dawkins, one of the voters.
“No,” Dawkins replied. “Actually, I come from a family that was, like, super Democratic. My first time voting, I voted Democrat. I voted for Joe Biden.”
When asked what drew him to Trump, Dawkins didn’t mince words. “I mean, part of it is, he’s an a*****e. I like authenticity.”
Jones, who cried when Trump was first elected in 2016, and again when he won in 2024, turned to Detra German, who revealed that she voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 but changed course in 2020. “I began listening to someone. Her name is Candace Owens,” German explained. “And I read her book, and it just opened my eyes to, maybe he’s not this person that I have been led to believe that he was.”
Kyasia Kraft also shared that she voted against Trump in 2016, but by 2020, her views had changed dramatically. “I saw how things were going during his first term, and I was pleasantly surprised,” she said. “I saw the economy getting better. I saw country relations in certain countries getting better.”
Jones seemed especially taken aback by the discussion around immigration. “What are some things that he’s doing that you do like?” he asked.
“For me, I like the border,” Dawkins replied. “I just don’t like the idea of someone coming here illegally and getting benefits that can serve my community.”
The three voters expressed frustration with how the black community is often portrayed. Kraft said, “I am sick and tired of seeing black people sit there and complain about something, but not taking action as steps to actually try to change things.”
Even when Jones pressed them on Trump’s controversial remarks about a third term, none of them flinched. German dismissed it: “A third term? For me, absolutely not.” But Kraft added, “This is a prime example of him trolling people… he’s like, OK, you all think I’m going to do that? I’m gonna mess with you all and say this to tick you all off.”
When Jones finally asked the million-dollar question — if they’d vote for Trump again — the answers were clear.
“Yes, I would,” German said.
Dawkins didn’t hesitate either: “Yes.”
And Kraft sealed the deal: “1,000%, absolutely yes.”
These weren’t confused voters; they were confident, unapologetic, and clear-eyed about their support for Trump. However, neither he nor Anderson Cooper saw it that way.
After watching the package, Jones and Cooper scrambled to rationalize it. Instead of accepting that these voters might simply like Trump’s policies, they chalked it all up to misinformation.
“Most of the information that they are getting or misinformation they may be getting is coming from online,” Cooper claimed, teeing up Jones to blame social media. “100%,” Jones agreed, even accusing one voter of parroting “the Chinese narrative” because he used TikTok.
Jones sounded almost offended that these Americans were thinking for themselves. “They’re in a completely different information environment,” he said.
In other words, Jones and Cooper couldn’t handle the fact that black voters are waking up — and instead of listening, they defaulted to the tired “they’ve been duped” excuse.
