Trump calls CNN’s Van Jones ‘total sleazebag’

Former President Trump went on an extended rant against CNN commentator Van Jones, citing criminal justice reform efforts as the root of his dislike for the lawyer-turned-political analyst and feeling particularly slighted by him in front of then-first lady Melania Trump.

“There’s something about loyalty. You help somebody with something,” Trump said during an appearance on entrepreneur Patrick Bet-David’s “PDP Podcast” released Thursday.

“He made a plea to me — Van Jones, total sleazebag — he made a plea to me to help him and help this group of people” on criminal justice legislation, Trump recalled of efforts on the 2018 passage of the bipartisan First Step Act.

“This Van Jones guy, I was going to help. You’ll understand why I’m being nasty to him now, because what happened was disgraceful,” he said.

Trump said he lobbied Republican senators whom he helped elect, even those staunchly opposed to reform measures, to get the bill passed.

“What happens is, Van Jones and all them, they called for a news conference that night the vote was taken,” he continued.

Trump said he asked his wife to join him to watch the news conference on TV, because he wanted her to “see somebody really say something nice about your husband.”

He recalled telling her of Jones’s turn at the podium, “Watch this. This gentleman was in my office number of weeks ago, and I needed votes, and I got it done.”

“Van Jones got up and it was a little — I don’t get too embarrassed, you know, but he got up and he thanked this one, he thanked that one, he thanked this one, this one, that one, that one. The only one he didn’t thank was Donald Trump,” Trump said.

Jones has thanked Trump for his efforts on other occasions, which Bet-David showed to him during their interview, but the former president dismissed it.

“A real man would not have done that, and I’m glad I saw that, but it really doesn’t mean anything, because he said it and then after that he took it back,” Trump said.