Who Is Van Jones, The Anti-MAGA Lawyer That Once Worked With Donald Trump?

Van Jones is a lawyer, political activist, and television host who is an affiliate of the Democratic Party. Notably, he worked as an advisor to Barack Obama before being forced to resign for an off-color remark he made about Republicans. But Jones also spent time working with the Trump administration in 2018 in an effort to pass the First Step Act, a bipartisan criminal justice bill. It doesn't seem like the two are on good terms, though, even if Jones did compliment Trump. 

Born on September 20, 1968, in Jackson, Tennessee, it seemed as though Jones was destined for greatness. He attended Yale Law School and wrote the national bestseller "The Green Collar Economy," which was published in 2008. Jones worked for the Obama Administration in 2009, and in 2013, he was hired by CNN as a political commentator and is known to speak his mind, not even holding back when discussing President Joe Biden.  

While he was successful in getting the First Step Act signed into law, Jones told The Recast that working with Trump was extremely difficult. "And I think that the passions and the fear that Donald Trump [and the rest of his agenda] brought out in my progressive colleagues was almost existential," he said. "And so those of us who were willing to get this thing done found ourselves facing much more passionate and personal objections to cooperating with the Trump administration than I would have predicted."

Donald Trump has a distaste for many people, and Van Jones seems to be one of them. The former president went on an aggressive tirade about the CNN commentator while a guest on the "PBD Podcast." During his attack on Jones' character, Trump discussed the time the CNN contributor worked with his administration in 2018, giving a completely different take on the story. "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," Trump told podcast host Patrick Bet-David. "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." 

Trump went on to tell Bet-David that Jones was not appreciative of the efforts he took to get the bill passed. According to the former president, Van Jones and his team called for a news conference on the night of the vote. "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," Trump said. "The only one he didn't thank was Donald Trump." However, Bet-David revealed that Jones did thank Trump in several other instances and showcased video proof.