CNN’s Van Jones: There’s ‘Relief’ from Conservatives and ‘Some Disquiet in the Jewish Community’ About Shapiro Getting Passed Over for Walz

While the Democratic party has largely coalesced around Vice President Kamala Harris’s candidacy, CNN’s Van Jones said that there are still some lingering questions and internal “disquiet,” and the choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) as Harris’s VP pick might ignite some hard conversations.

In describing his initial reaction to Walz as the pick, Jones told CNN’s Jim Acosta on Tuesday that Walz “punctured the [former President] Donald Trump balloon” but added: “A lot of people are excited, but it’s not all one way.” He explained:

[W]hat worries me is you see a lot of relief from the conservatives. They were scared of [Pennsylvania Gov.] Josh Shapiro . They were scared of a [Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ)]. They thought that would help define Kamala more to the middle. You see a lot of rejoicing on the right. That’s not good.

There was also the perception of anti-Semitism, since Shapiro is Jewish:

Also, you’ve got some disquiet in the Jewish community. Some people had their hopes up, maybe you’re going to get another shot of a Jewish vice president. We haven’t had that for two decades. And now that gets pulled away. Is it just because he’s a moderate or is there some anti-Jewish bias here? So the party is still digesting this.

But while Walz is the governor of a state with a large Muslim population who also recognizes Israel’s right to exist , Jones pointed out that the rift between the extreme left and some Jewish Democrats over the Israel-Hamas War and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza had not gone away:

[H]ere’s the challenge you’ve got in this party. And, you know, people don’t want to talk about it, we got to talk about it. On the one hand, you have a lot of young people who are concerned about Gaza. You have a lot of Muslims and Arabs and others. They had not felt seen by the Biden administration. You saw it right here in that “Genocide Joe,” that was building, that was building. And so those folks needed to have a candidate that they could feel comfortable with. This helps them in that regard.

But you also have anti-Semitism that has gotten marbled into this party. You can be for the Palestinians without being an anti-Jewish bigot, but there are some anti-Jewish bigots out there. And there’s some disquiet now, and there has to be. How much of what just happened is caving into some of these darker parts in the party? So that’s going to have to get worked out. It’s going to have to get talked through. But I tell you what, if you have a Josh Shapiro who says, “You know what, I give this my stamp. I give this my support. I believe in this ticket,” that’s going to help a great deal. And Josh Shapiro has a magnificent future in this party regardless. It’s mostly positive, you’re seeing mostly enthusiasm. But there is some disquiet and conversation we got to have inside this party.

Watch the video above via CNN.