CNN’s Van Jones recently sounded the alarm for Democrats. Still, he exhibits a curious knack for missing the forest for the trees.
Participating in The New York Times’ DealBook Summit alongside Kellyanne Conway and Kevin McCarthy, Jones shared his frustration over how Democrats underestimated Donald Trump’s mastery of the digital sphere. He declared that Democrats were still running political campaigns like it’s 1999—back when their biggest tech concern was how to explain the Y2K bug to grandma.
Van Jones just admitted to his panelists at the roundtable with Kelly Ann Conway in attendance that the legacy media is dead.
He said we’re way off, the political class is way off, and the only one who knew it beforehand was Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/Zn9w0QyNOQ
— WayneTech SPFX®️ (@WayneTechSPFX) December 12, 2024
Jones emphasized that today’s political outreach isn’t about stuffing leaflets under doormats but infiltrating the endless scroll of people’s social media feeds.
“Digital is the new door knocking,” he proclaimed, pointing out that while Democrats were busy mocking Trump for ignoring traditional canvassing, his campaign was busy digitally outmaneuvering them.
According to Jones, Americans answering their physical doors these days are more likely to show up holding their phones, tuned into a “24-hour digital surround sound” universe entirely detached from legacy media.
Legacy Media: A B-Movie in a Blockbuster Era
“The mainstream has become fringe, and the fringe has become mainstream,” lamented Jones.
Translation? Cable news is now the Blockbuster Video of political discourse—irrelevant and fading fast. Meanwhile streamers, podcasters, and TikTok influencers have become the Netflix of modern narratives. With some platforms raking in views north of 14 million, CNN’s “one to two million” viewers must feel like a sparsely attended PTA meeting by comparison.
Jones’ admission that Democrats’ messaging failed to connect mirrors the painful reality of a political movement too reliant on outdated tactics and media institutions. Ironically, Democrats placed their trust in the same media that promised them Hillary Clinton was a shoo-in back in 2016. Their predictions for Hillary equated to relying on a Magic 8 Ball for stock market predictions—sure, it’s entertaining, but let’s not bet the farm on “Outlook good.”
The Real Plot Twist: It’s Not the Platform, It’s the Message
Jones missed the biggest joke in his monologue: while Democrats indeed ignored the new tools, but they’re building the wrong house. It’s not the distribution system that’s faulty; it’s the message itself. So as cable news continues its slow crawl toward irrelevance, Democrats’ faith in their media allies is like Titanic passengers betting on the iceberg to move first.
Not that long ago, I wrote about the ratings of The View:
Let’s talk about The View, that daytime carnival of cacklers, where nuanced debate goes to die and the echo chamber reigns supreme. Apparently, the show’s ratings are in the gutter. Shocker! It’s like discovering that deep-fried Oreos aren’t a health food.
According to RadarOnline.com, ABC executives are panicking, grappling with the reality that perhaps parroting the same tired Leftist talking points isn’t exactly riveting television.
Jones’ most revealing moment came when he begrudgingly admitted, “I hate to agree with Kellyanne…”.
The same is true of most Leftists, as Jones’ comment exposes how partisanship often trumps reason. Jones’ reluctance to acknowledge truth without a disclaimer showcases the ideological rigidity that hamstrings meaningful dialogue with the Left.
The Moral of the Story: Adapt or Die
While Jones deserves credit for recognizing the Left’s digital lag, his analysis overlooks a more profound irony: Democrats’ fixation on controlling the narrative instead of understanding the electorate has left them preaching to the choir. Meanwhile, the congregation walked out to join Joe Rogan, and some of the others mentioned by Jones.
To his credit, Jones has sounded the alarm bell multiple time as it pertains to Trump. During Trump’s first run he acknowledged that Trump was running his campaign like a reality show. And he was winning.
He also mused on how film and television run adjacent with the vote. “Look, Hollywood created ‘The West Wing.’ That opened the door for a President Obama to be taken seriously as a cerebral, high-integrity candidate. Hollywood also produced reality television, which lowered the bar for any kind of rational discussion or role models and that gave you Donald Trump. I think this town needs to take a lot more seriously the stories it’s telling. The same Hollywood liberals that cash all these checks from reality TV when they look in their bank account are now sad from looking at their TV every night.”
Alarm bells have been ringing for over a decade as traditional media hemorrhages viewers. Yet Democrats’ refusal to confront these trends makes them the political one-trick ponies.
Perhaps the takeaway for Democrats isn’t just that digital platforms have outpaced legacy media but that voters can spot disingenuous messaging from a mile away—whether it’s delivered through a smartphone screen or a TV set. As Jones inadvertently demonstrated, admitting the truth isn’t a weakness, but refusing to embrace it might just be their downfall.
And in the end, Kellyanne Conway’s smile during Jones’ reluctant admission of her wisdom. That’s the digital age equivalent of a mic drop.
