Van Jones after Dem debate: ‘We’re all still in therapy’ over 2016 loss to Trump

CNN’s Van Jones looked at the Democratic Party’s presidential hopefuls Wednesday evening and came to a conclusion: “We’re all still in therapy trying to figure out what went wrong in 2016.”

The former Obama administration official told his media colleagues that Democrats may miscalculate on the American electorate if, for all intents and purposes, they take advice from the wrong political therapist.

“This is I think the key,” he said from Detroit after the first of two debates. “I think we’re all still in therapy trying to figure out what went wrong in 2016. And depending on who your therapist is, you have a different answer. I think for a lot of progressives, you’re correct, some of these ideas — they may be a bridge too far. And I have that same fear.”

The debate, the first of back-to-back events each featuring 10 candidates, delved into “Medicare for All” proposals and possible reparations to black Americans for as redress for slavery.

“I just want to speak to the people who say, ’You know what? We don’t care,’” Mr. Jones added, NewsBusters reported. “At this point, when you have a president who has gone so far to the right and done so many things — and been rewarded for the audacity for it — why can’t we be audacious? Why can’t we actually fight for what we believe in? … We think you’re going to be more electable if you electrify the people who’ve voted before, and those are going to be the people who need big solutions, and these moderate answers may actually demobilize your own base.”

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, for instance, lamented the “spinelessness” of candidates who “talk about what we really can’t do and shouldn’t fight for” regarding progressive policies.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders echoed a similar sentiment, saying at one point: “Health care is a human right, not a privilege. I believe that. I will fight for that.”